Encapsulation rates of the parasitoid Anagyrus sp. nr. pseudococci, by three mealybug species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Laboratory studies assessing the degree of suitability of the mealybugs Planococcus ficus (Signoret), Planococcus citri (Risso) and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), towards the Sicilian ecotype of the encyrtid parasitoid Anagyrus sp. nr. pseudococci were carried out. All three species of mealybugs were shown to encapsulate the eggs of the encyrtid; however, significant differences were revealed among them in rates of encapsulation and/or superparasitism. The level of aggregate encapsulation and effective encapsulation of the parasitoid eggs by P. citri (74.95 ± 0.87 and 60.19 ± 1.70, respectively) was significantly higher than that recorded for P. ficus (aggregate encapsulation = 58.43 ± 0.83 and effective encapsulation = 31.31 ± 1.55) and significantly lower than the values found in Ps. calceolariae (93.99 ± 0.97 and 88.61 ± 2.03, respectively). As such, rates of parasitism were significantly lower for P. ficus compared with both P. citri and Ps. calceolariae. The two latter species of mealybugs showed similar rates of parasitism by A. sp. nr. pseudococci. Moreover, a significantly higher rate of superparasitism was found for Ps. calceolariae compared with both P. citri and P. ficus, whereas no significant differences were found between the two species of Planococcus for this parameter.