The Armored Scale insects (Hemiptera, Diaspididae) have caused damage to vineyards in Rio Grande do Sul, mainly Vitis labrusca L. cv. Niagara. From September 2009 to October 2011 we conducted a survey of Diaspididae species and associated parasitoids occurring in the trunk of the vines. It was evaluated 32 vineyards located in Bento Gonçalves, Caxias do Sul, Flores da Cunha and Sarandi, RS. The most frequent and abundant specie of armored scale insect was Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret, 1869). Melanaspis arnaldoi (Costa Lima, 1924) and Pseudaonidia marquesi (Costa Lima, 1924) were recorded for the first time in V. labrusca. All these species showed perforations in the scale cover indicating the presence of parasitism in the field. The level of parasitism ranged from 11.3 to 76.5% for H. lataniae, from 9 to 58.8% for M. arnaldoi and 3.4 to 22.2% for P. marquesi. The following associations between armored scale insects and parasitoids were found: Encarsia sp. (Aphelinidae), Plagiomerus sp. (Encyrtidae), Amitus sp. (Platygastridae) and a hyperparasitoid Chartocerus sp. (Signiphoridae) with H. lataniae; Homalopoda sp. (Encyrtidae) with P. marquesi and Chartocerus sp. with M. arnaldoi. Amitus sp., Homalopoda sp. and Chartocerus sp. are the first records association for these armored scale insects.
Hemiberlesia lataniae; Melanaspis arnaldoi; Pseudaonidia marquesi; Diaspididae; Vitis labrusca
