Population Dynamics and Parasitism of the Kudzu Bug, Megacopta cribraria, by Egg Parasitoid, Paratelenomus saccharalis, in Southeastern USA

Worrel Diedrick, Lambert H. B. Kanga (), Muhammad Haseeb, Mrittunjai Srivastava and Jesusa C. Legaspi
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Worrel Diedrick: Center for Biological Control, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Florida A&M University, 310 Perry Paige Building South, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
Lambert H. B. Kanga: Center for Biological Control, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Florida A&M University, 310 Perry Paige Building South, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
Muhammad Haseeb: Center for Biological Control, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Florida A&M University, 310 Perry Paige Building South, Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
Mrittunjai Srivastava: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
Jesusa C. Legaspi: United States Department of Agriculture—Agricultural Research Service—Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, 6383 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32308, USA

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), commonly called the kudzu bug, is a pest of concern in many soybean and legume-producing states. It was first detected in the United States in 2009. In the southeastern United States, M. cribraria reduced crop yields by 47% in untreated soybean fields. Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) is a known parasitoid of the kudzu bug, and a potential biological control agent. This study was comprised of three phases: (1) Preliminary assessment of the presence of the kudzu bug and its parasites in north Florida and south Georgia. (2) Measurements of the levels of parasitism in 12 sites selected from the preliminary evaluation to compare population dynamics in two growing seasons in agricultural, forested, and urban areas. (3) Laboratory studies to measure parasitism after 21 days in controlled environments. The preliminary assessment showed that in both 2016 and 2017, P. saccharalis emerged from eggs of M. cribraria collected in Leon and Gadsden County. Additionally, parasitism was recorded for the recently discovered egg parasitoid in north Florida, Ooencyrtus nezarae (Ishii) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). In the assessment of parasitism in the field, differences were observed in the average level of parasitism within the urban and forest area in both years, and in the agricultural area for 2017. Between-group comparisons indicated significant differences between the average parasitism levels in agricultural, urban, and forested areas in 2016; in 2017, the differences between the areas were not significant. In the laboratory, after 21 days of observation, an average of 77.4% of freshly laid and 61.6% of cooled eggs were parasitized by P. saccharalis , and adult parasitoids emerged. There was a significant difference in the emergence of freshly laid eggs over cooled eggs. This study suggests that both P. saccharalis and O. nezarae exert some levels of natural control of the kudzu bug in the field and may be useful as biological control agents in an integrated pest management program.

Keywords: urban; forested; agricultural area; kudzu; catnip; generalist; specialist; soybean (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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