Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T00:56:10.246Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Notes on the distribution and biology of Pediobius furvus (Gah.) (Hym., Eulophidae), a parasite of graminaceous stem-borers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. I. Mohyuddin
Affiliation:
East African Station, Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, P.O. Box 7065, Kampala, Uganda

Extract

Pediobius furvus (Gah.) (Eulophidae) is a parasite of the pupae of Pyralid and Noctuid stem-borers on graminaceous crops in Africa between 17°N and 17°S. It co-exists with the other pupal parasites Dentichasmias busseolae Heinr. and Procerochasmias nigromaculatus (Cam.) (Ichneumonidae) and Hyperchalcidia soudanensis Steffan (Chalcididae), but it is more abundant below 4000 ft where P. nigromaculatus does not occur. Mating follows a courtship dance, and oviposition occurs in any part of the host pupa. The life-cycle is completed in 18–20 days at 30°C, and up to several hundred adults may emerge from a single host pupa, the most suitable pupae being 2–3 days old at the time of oviposition. Longevity was improved when sucrose was provided as food. Host pupae outside the stem were parasitised, but puparia of Diptera and cocoons of Apanteles sesamiae Cam. (Braconidae) were not parasitised in the laboratory. Pupae formed inside cocoons were not attacked. Pediobius furvus has become established in Madagascar on Sesamia calamistis Hmps, and is considered promising for biological control of graminaceous stem-borers in other countries.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appert, J., Betbeder-Matibet, M. & Ranaivosoa, H. (1969). Vingt années de lutte biologique à Madagascar.—Docum. Inst. Rech. agron. Madagascar no. 176, 31 pp.Google Scholar
Descamps, M. (1956). Insectes nuisibles au riz dans le Nord Cameroun.—Agron. trop., Nogent 11, 732755.Google Scholar
Forsyth, J. (1966). Agricultural insects of Ghana.—163 pp. Accra, Ghana Univ. Pr.Google Scholar
Gahan, A. B. (1928). Some reared parasitic Hymenoptera from the Sudan.—Bull. ent. Res. 19, 255257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, K. M. (1962). Lepidopterous stem-borers of cereals in Nigeria.—Bull. ent. Res. 53, 139171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerath, M. L. (1968). Parasites of sugarcane stem borers in Nigeria.—J. econ. Ent. 61, 435436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, F. J. (1966). Report on an investigation into the presence and prevalence of rice stem-borers and their parasites in Sierra Leone 1964–65.—47 pp. West African Rice Research Station, Rokupr, Sierra Leone and International Rice Research Inst., Los Banos, Philippines.Google Scholar
La Croix, E. A. S. (1967). Maize stalk borers in the Coast Province of Kenya.—E. Afr. agric. For. J. 33, 4954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, J. E. D. (1967). Final report on a survey of the parasites of graminaceous stem-borers in East Africa.—159 pp. Kawanda, Commonw. Inst. Biol. Control.Google Scholar
Mohyuddin, A. I. & Greathead, D. J. (in press). An annotated list of the parasites of graminaceous stem-borers in East Africa, with a discussion of their potential in biological control.Google Scholar
Nye, I. W. B. (1960). The insect pests of graminaceous crops in East Africa.—Colon. Res. Stud. no. 31, 48 pp.Google Scholar
Risbec, J. (1950). La faune entomologique des cultures au Sénégal et au Soudan français, II. Contribution à l'eétude des Proctotrupidae.—Trav. Lab. Ent. Sect. soudan. Rech. agron. no. 1–2, 639 pp.Google Scholar
Simmonds, F. J. (1952). Parasites of the frit-fly, Oscinella frit (L.), in eastern North America.—Bull. ent. Res. 43, 503542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, H. & Lieth, H. (19601967). Klimadiagramm Weltatlas.—Jena, Veb Gustav Fischer Verlag.Google Scholar
Waterston, J. (1915). Notes on African Chalcidoidea—II.—Bull. ent. Res. 5, 343372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar