Brachymeria minuta (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae): parasitism on pupa of the eucalypt defoliator Thyrinteina arnobia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and its first record in the Americas

Thyrinteina arnobia Stoll, 1782 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is found in Central, North, and South America (Pohl et al., 2016) and it is the main defoliator in Eucalyptus spp. (Myrtaceae) plantations in all regions of Brazil (Zanuncio et al., 2021). Identifying new natural enemies is important because predatory stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and the parasitoid wasps Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle, 1993 and Trichospilus diatraeae Cherian & Margabandhu, 1942 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are used in the management of T. arnobia in Brazil (Pastori et al., 2012; Silva et al., 2012; Barbosa et al., 2016).

Species of Chalcididae wasps are cosmopolitan with the majority reported from tropical regions (Hasanshahi et al., 2013) and Brachymeria Westwood, 1829 is one of the most widespread and common genera of this family. Species of this genus parasitize pupae of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera pests (Zache et al., 2012; Aquino et al., 2015) or are pupal hyperparasitoids (Pinheiro et al., 2022). Brachymeria parasitized Thyrinteina sp. and Brachymeria pandora (Crawford) parasitized Thyrinteina leucocerae Rindge (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) pupae in the municipality of Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Zache et al., 2012).

The objective of this paper is to report, for the first time, Brachymeria minuta Linnaeus, 1767 (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) parasitizing T. arnobia pupae and its first occurrence in the Americas.

Pupae of T. arnobia were collected from a eucalyptus plant near a native forest in Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (20º45'14” S, 42º52'53 W, 648.74 m) and they were kept under laboratory conditions. A chalcidid pupal parasitoid emerged from one of them and it was preserved in a glass vial containing 70% alcohol and its dorsal and lateral photographs sent to Dr. Sagadai Manickavasagam (Faculty of Agriculture - Annamalai University, India, Chidambaram, India), who identified it as Brachymeria minuta.

This is the first report of an association between B. minuta and T. arnobia (Figure 1) in the world. Brachymeria minuta is, usually, a gregarious parasitoid in Lepidoptera, and solitary in Diptera, due to the host size and weight. This natural enemy parasitized pupa of important insect pests such as Apomyelois ceratoniae Zeller, 1839 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Aproaerema modicella Deventer, 1904 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and Lymantria dispar Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) (Kenis and Cugala, 2006; Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012; Nobakht et al., 2015). Brachymeria minuta also parasitizes synantropic dipterans, such as Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 (Diptera: Muscidae) (Chakraborty et al., 2015).

Figure 1
Lateral (A) and dorsal (B) view of the parasitoid Brachymeria minuta (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) emerged from Thyrinteina arnobia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) pupa.

The record of B. minuta in the Americas expands the geographic range of this parasitoid widely distributed in Europe, with reports in Malta (Southern Europe), Portugal and Spain (Southwest Europe), Italy (Central-Southern Europe), Austria (Central Europe), Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom (Western Europe), Turkey (Southeast Europe), Belarus, Hungary and Ukraine (Eastern Europe) and Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, and Sweden (Northern Europe). This parasitoid has also been reported in India (South Asia), Japan (East Asia), Korea (Northeast Asia), Thailand and Vietnam (Southeast Asia), Russian Federation (Eurasia) and Saudi Arabia (Middle East), Morocco (Northwest Africa), Iran (Palearctic Region), and Australasia (Oceania) (Kenis and Cugala, 2006; Lotfalizadeh et al., 2012; Nobakht et al., 2015; Narendran and van Achterberg, 2016; Falahatpisheh et al., 2018; GBIF, 2022) (Figure 2).

Figure 2
First record of Brachymeria minuta (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in the Americas and its distribution in the world. Source: Kenis and Cugala (2006); Lotfalizadeh et al. (2012); Nobakht et al. (2015); Narendran and van Achterberg (2016); Falahatpisheh et al. (2018); GBIF (2022).

The association of B. minuta as an endoparasitoid of T. arnobia pupae increases the number of natural enemies of this important eucalyptus defoliator. This is the first record of B. minuta in the Americas, specifically in South America and Brazil.

Acknowledgements

To Philipe Guilherme Corcino Souza, from the Postgraduate Program in Plant Production at UFVJM, for drawing up the map. To “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES- Finance Code 001), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), and “Programa Cooperativo sobre Proteção Florestal (PROTEF) do Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Florestais (IPEF)”.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  15 May 2023
• Date of issue
  2023

History

• Received
  09 Apr 2022
• Accepted
  01 Mar 2023