This work was carried out in the soybean growing seasons of 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 with the aim of evaluating the egg parasitism of stinkbugs Euschistus heros and Piezodorus guildinii at São Gabriel do Oeste region in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Stinkbugs egg masses were collected in areas not sprayed with chemical insecticides during the soybean reproductive stage. In the laboratory, the egg masses were individualized in Petri dishes with a wet cotton wick and kept at room temperature until the complete emergence of the parasitoid and/or stinkbug nymph. After parasitoid death, the parasitism per egg mass and the parasitism index were determined for each collecting period. The E. heros and P. guildinii egg masses collected in 2001 growing season showed an average of 62.5% and 23.8% parasitism, respectively. In 2002 growing season, the average parasitism of 59.3% and 39.5% for E. heros and P. guildinii, respectively. The main parasitoid species found in both E. heros and P. guildinii eggs was Telenomus podisi.
phytophagous stinkbug; biological control; Telenomus podisi
