Occurrence of Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Braconidae: Microgastrinae) as parasitoid of Manduca sexta paphus (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in Southern of Gois, Brazil

Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Braconidae: Microgastrinae), which is an important larval has served as a model for a number of studies examining the learning and foraging behavior of insects. Like other wasps, M. croceipes uses olfactory and visual cues to locate and lay their eggs in, Heliocoverpa zea (Boddie), Heliothis virescens (Fabricius), and Heliothis subflexa (Quenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as well as to locate food resources and it has been determined that the use of these mediating cues are improved through associative learning. Manduca sexta paphus (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) is known in Brazil as the tobacco worm and is generally found on Solanacea plants, especially tobacco. T his species is found in tobacco fields, vegetable gardens, and a wide variety of other habitats. T he occurrence of the parasitoid M. croceipes parasitizing two larva Manduca sexta paphus on soybean (Glicine max L. Merr.) in southern of Goiás, Brazil is reported in this paper. Source: Global Journal of Bioloy, Agriculture & Health Science, Vol.3(1):8-10. 2014


Introduction Introduction
As a possibility to control of insect's pests certain groups of parasitoids, agents responsible for reducing insects (Marchiori et al., 2002) can be used.
Parasitoids are important regulators of insect populations and stand out as the main group of natural enemies in agricultural systems. Are dispersed in several families of Qeios, CC-BY 4.0 · Article, November 19, 2019 Qeios ID: 361102 · https://doi.org/10.32388/361102 1/5 insects and their adaptation to the parasitic mode of life is more diverse and abundant in Hymenoptera (Panizzi and Parra, 2009).
T he Braconidae form the second largest family of the Hymenoptera, comprising about 40,000 species distributed worldwide in several different habitats. T hey are considered key-species for the maintenance of the balance in the communities that include them (Scatolini and Penteado-Dias, 1997).
T heir majority is constituted of primary parasitoids of other insects and is normally associated to a single host. T hey may be endoparasitoids or ectoparasitoids, koinobionts or idiobionts (Scatolini and Penteado-Dias, 1997 (Zucchi et al., 1993).
T his species is found in tobacco fields, vegetable gardens, and a wide variety of other habitats.
T he objective of this manuscript is to report the occurrence of Microplitis croceipes Microplitis croceipes, which is an important larval has served as a model for a number of studies examining the learning and foraging behavior of insects (T akasu and Lewis, 1993 Lewis, 1996), and it has been determined that the use of these mediating cues are improved through associative learning (T akasu and Lewis, 1996). Lewis and T umlinson (1988) discovered that a parasitoid wasp, M. croceipes, could associatively learn chemical cues from its host and respond to these cues when searching for hosts in varied environments. Female wasps of M. croceipes are parasitoids of three highly polyphagous larval hosts, H. zea and H. virescens.
Once a host is found, the wasp oviposits an egg directly into the caterpillar larvae. T he wasp larva, after feeding on the caterpillar, emerges and weaves a cocoon. An adult wasp emerges in 7 to 10 days. M. croceipes and its use as a model for the development of a biological sensor.
(Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Larvae that have been parasitized by C. congregata can be seen covered with white pupal cases of larval wasps that emerged from feeding and developing inside the caterpillar's body.
T richogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: T richogrammatidae) was released to control larvae at a rate of 378,000/acre at 3-day intervals and high levels of egg parasitism were attained (Metcalf and Metcalf., 1993).
Among the means for controlling flies, chemical insecticides are the most widely used.
However, these may lose their efficiency as populations gradually become insecticideresistant. T he resistance to insecticides shows the growing need to introduce alternative insect control programs, for instance the biological control. It is possible to control these insects, by using the natural regulators such as parasitoids, which are the responsible agents for the reduction of the insects pests populations.

. Conclusion . Conclusion
T his is the first report on the occurrence of M. croceipes parasitizing Manduca sexta paphus and first occurrence of Manduca sexta paphus attacking soybean in Brazil.