Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle, 1993 (Hym.: Eulophidae) was found parasitizing pupae of Sabulodes sp. (Lep.: Geometridae) in an Eucalyptus plantation. To study the preference of this parasitoid for pupae of other lepidopteran pests, an experiment was conducted testing the following Lepidoptera species: Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Crambidae), Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, 1818, Heliothis virescens (Fabricius, 1781) and Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith, 1797) (Noctuidae). The percentage of parasitism ranged from 90% (H. virescens) to 100%. The highest value for the parasitoid sexual ratio was 0.98 for D. saccharalis, and the lowest was 0.69 for H. virescens. The host species significantly affected the size of P. elaeisis males (1.64 mm in S. frugiperda and 1.49 mm in H. virescens), and not that of females. The sex of the host had significant effect on the total number of parasitoids, whereas the host species had no statistical effect on the same variable.
Palmistichus elaeisis; insecta; Eulophidae; biological control