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First report of Encarsia cubensis Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) an exotic parasitoid on the Neotropical Whitefly Aleurotrachelus atratus Hempel (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in India

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Abstract

The Neotropical palm infesting whitefly, Aleurotrachelus atratus Hempel (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a highly invasive pest that was reported during 2019 on coconut in India. In a short span of time, it spread rapidly across states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh on coconut, oil palm and many other ornamental palm plants. During the recent survey, the immature stages of A. atratus were found parasitized by an aphelinid parasitoid, Encarsia cubensis Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). These parasitoids were identified by their morphological characteristics and also characterized by DNA barcoding of adult parasitoids using partial (658 bp) mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) gene (GenBank accession number ON881119). This is the first report on occurrence of Encarsia cubensis as primary parasitoids on A. atratus in India and its natural parasitism ranged from (46–68%) on coconut across the different locations in Karnataka. It is believed that the parasitoid likely entered India along with A. atratus in India and constitutes a potential biological agent against A. atratus. It is expected that the E. cubensis population will become fully established, increase, spread and exert a significant impact on A. atratus population in India. Therefore, efforts may be made by growers and other stakeholders to increase the rate of natural parasitism through inundative, conservation and classical biological control approaches to reduce the pest population, crop damage and yield loss.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Director, ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru, Bengaluru and Head, Division of Germplasm Conservation and Utilization for providing facilities to identify, characterize and document this species. We also thank, The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for providing research facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Germplasm Conservation and Utilization, ICAR- National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru, 560024, Karnataka, India

    K. Selvaraj, B. V. Sumalatha & H. D. Swathi

  2. Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, 700053, West Bengal, India

    A. Rameshkumar, S. Sardar & S. I. Kazmi

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  1. K. Selvaraj
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  2. A. Rameshkumar
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  3. B. V. Sumalatha
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  4. H. D. Swathi
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  5. S. Sardar
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  6. S. I. Kazmi
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Contributions

KS, SBV and SHD collected the parasitoids and molecular characterization (DNA barcoding); RA identified parasitoid; SS and SIK assisted the preparation of slides and parasitoids images; KS and RA wrote the paper and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to K. Selvaraj.

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Selvaraj, K., Rameshkumar, A., Sumalatha, B.V. et al. First report of Encarsia cubensis Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) an exotic parasitoid on the Neotropical Whitefly Aleurotrachelus atratus Hempel (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in India. Phytoparasitica 51, 255–261 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-023-01046-1

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