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Evidence of the establishment of Cotesia flavipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid of cereal stemborers, and its host range expansion in Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

E. Getu
Affiliation:
Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, PO Box 436, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
W. A Overholt*
Affiliation:
Indian River Research and Extension Center, University of Florida, 2199 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, Florida 34945, USA
E. Kairu
Affiliation:
Kenyatta University, PO Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya
C.O. Omwega
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
*
*Fax: 1 772 468 5668 E-mail: waoverholt@mail.ifas.ufl.edu

Abstract

Three lepidopteran cereal stemborers, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Crambidae), Busseola fusca Fuller, and Sesamia calamistis Hampson (Noctuidae) were collected from maize and sorghum in Ethiopia. The noctuid stemborers are indigenous to Africa while C. partellus is an introduced species from Asia. In 1999, the Asian stemborer parasitoid, Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Braconidae) was found to be widespread in Ethiopia, even though it had never been released in the country. In addition to attacking Chilo partellus, Cotesia flavipes was reared from B. fusca and S. calamistis. The origin of C. flavipes in Ethiopia may have been Somalia where it was released in 1997 near the border with eastern Ethiopia. Percent parasitism of borers by C. flavipes was higher in eastern Ethiopia than other surveyed regions, and parasitism was higher in 2000 than 1999. Parasitism was higher when cereals were intercropped with other plants and when wild grass hosts of stemborers were present.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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