Release of the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi to manage the Neotropical Brown Stink Bug, Euschistus heros, in soybean production.

Eushistus heros is one of the major pests in soybean in South America. Not only has insecticides constantly failed on its control but also triggered different negative side effects related to the overuse of chemicals. Among the biocontrol agents that can be used in Augmentative Biological Control, Telenomus podisi stands out due to its high parasitism capacity on eggs of its hosts. Therefore, this study aimed to assess T. podisi release strategies and moments (release done together with the detection of first E. heros adults in the area as well as together with fungicide sprays), in order to reach optimal parasitoid field performance. For this purpose, a replicated experiment was conducted with a soybean crop located in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, during 2017/18 and 2018/19 crop seasons. Treatments consisted of 18750 released T. podisi pupae (released either inside cardboard capsules or as unprotected pupae sprinkled in bulk, at different moments) and were evaluated against insecticide spraying strategies. At harvest, yield and quality of the seeds were measured. Overall, our results clearly indicate that T. podisi pupae can be released either encapsulated or unprotected, with similar efficacy. Their release in the field increased E. heros egg parasitism to 70% and 50%, in 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, respectively. Thus, T. podisi can be efficiently used to control stink bug eggs. However, since the number of stink bugs ≥0.5 cm in the field highly depends on its migration from neighboring fields, it is important to use T. podisi inside integrated pest management. Image 1 • Telenomus podisi pupae released either encapsulated or unprotected have similar efficacy. • 18750 pupae of Telenomus podisi /hectare significantly increases stink bug egg parasitism. • Telenomus podisi release should be done with first stink bugs adults in the field. • Telenomus podisi release and insecticide spray have similar stink bug control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Crop Protection (02612194) is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)