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Naturally occurring egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in a pomegranate orchard in Tunisia
Author(s) -
KSENTINI Ines,
MONJE Juan Carlos,
JARDAK Taieb,
ZEGHAL Najiba
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
entomological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1479-8298
pISSN - 1343-8786
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-8298.2009.00356.x
Subject(s) - trichogrammatidae , biology , trichogramma , hymenoptera , lepidoptera genitalia , pyralidae , botany , orchard , horticulture , parasitoid
Four Trichogramma species were found in a pomegranate orchard in Gabès, an arid region of Tunisia, from parasitized eggs of Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an economically important insect pest. Identification based on assessment of male genitalia and internal transcribed spacer 2 ( ITS 2) sequences showed that they were T. bourarachae Pintureau and Babault, 1988, T. oleae Voegelé and Pointel, 1979, T. cacoeciae Marchal, 1927 and T. evanescens Westwood, 1833. Trichogramma evanescens is reported for the first time in Tunisia. Trichogramma cacoeciae was the largely dominant species in the analyzed samples, whereas T. bourarachae was present in a minor portion of 1.38%. The implications of these results for attempts at controlling E. ceratoniae are discussed.