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Analysis of biological traits of Anagyrus cachamai and Anagyrus lapachosus to assess their potential as biological control candidate agents against Harrisia cactus mealybug pest in Puerto Rico

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Abstract

The Harrisia cactus mealybug (HCM), Hypogeococcus sp. (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is devastating native cacti in Puerto Rico and threatens cacti throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and North America. In South America, its native area, various natural enemies keep HCM under control. Two South American parasitoids, Anagyrus cachamai Triapitsyn, Logarzo & Aguirre and A. lapachosus Triapitsyn, Aguirre & Logarzo (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), were selected as potential biological control agents. Rearing protocol to conduct mass production, specificity studies and several aspects of the biology of these species were studied under laboratory conditions in Argentina. Anagyrus cachamai and A. lapachosus successfully attacked early instars of Hypogeococcus sp., have a balanced sex ratio, exhibited a development time synchronized with that of the host, and presented differences in their reproductive biology and development time. All these characteristics make these parasitoids promising candidates for introduction as biological control agents against the HCM pest in Puerto Rico.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mariel Guala (FuEDEI) for her excellent technical assistance, Nadia Jiménez (FuEDEI) for her help with statistical analysis, and Arabella Peard Bugliani (FuEDEI) for her thoughtful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the USDA-APHIS Invasive Species Coordination Program from 2014 to 2016 (APH-HQ-16-0181), and USDA-APHIS Farm Bill funding for Fiscal Year 2017 (Farm Bill FY 17: 6.0385.01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas (FuEDEI), Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María B. Aguirre & Guillermo A. Logarzo

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María B. Aguirre & Octavio A. Bruzzone

  3. Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Serguei V. Triapitsyn

  4. Caribbean Advisor to the APHIS Administrator, USDA, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

    Hilda Diaz-Soltero

  5. USDA-ARS-CMAVE at Center for Biological Control, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL, 32308, USA

    Stephen D. Hight

  6. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

    Octavio A. Bruzzone

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  1. María B. Aguirre
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  2. Guillermo A. Logarzo
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  3. Serguei V. Triapitsyn
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  4. Hilda Diaz-Soltero
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  6. Octavio A. Bruzzone
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Correspondence to María B. Aguirre.

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Aguirre, M.B., Logarzo, G.A., Triapitsyn, S.V. et al. Analysis of biological traits of Anagyrus cachamai and Anagyrus lapachosus to assess their potential as biological control candidate agents against Harrisia cactus mealybug pest in Puerto Rico. BioControl 64, 539–551 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09956-y

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