Impact of Gyranusoidea tebygi Noyes (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) on the mango mealybug Rastrococcus invadens Williams (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in Nigeria.
Pitan O. O. R., Akinlosotu T. A., Odebiyi J. A.
Author Affiliation: National Horticultural Research Institute NIHORT, c/o Ayo Babalola, PO Box 6532, Agodi, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Biocontrol Science and Technology 10 : 245-254
Abstract : This study investigated the impact of released exotic mango mealybug parasitoid Gyranusoidea tebygi on mango mealybug Rastrococcus invadens in Nigeria. Observations were also made on the occurrence of the mealybug on other host plants in the surveyed areas. The monitoring exercise started in 1991 about 2 years after the first release in Ibadan. By 1997 and 1998, G. tebygi was found to have crossed all agro-ecological barriers to colonize the entire area of infestation nationwide on mango as well as other host plants. During this period, the populations of R. invadens had greatly decreased from between 11.0 and 98.0 mealybugs per leaf in 1991 to between 0.0 and 18.2 mealybugs per leaf in 1998.