Eretmocerus

Eretmocerus

Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Hymenoptera, Apocrita, Aphelinidae.

Geographic distribution: Wherever the whitefly hosts occur.

Morphology:: The adults are almost 1.0 mm in length, body mostly yellow, eyes dark-red. Larvae small, whitish, apodous, with clear segmentation and retracted mouthparts.

Hosts: Various whiteflies.

Life history: The species of Eretmocerus are endoparasitoids that lay their eggs (about 130-170/female) singly under the developing body of the host whitefly nymph. The 2nd and 3rd host instars are usually preferred over the preceding or following instars. The emerging parasitoid larva immediately invades the host body and feeds on its body fluids. Total development at 25ºC requires about 2-3 weeks and the adults live for about a fortnight. The whitefly’s host plant may affect the fecundity of the parasitoid; E. mundus Mercet laid more eggs in whiteflies infesting squash, followed by those on beans, and least on sweet pepper. Some species of Eretmocerus are thelytokous.

Economic importance: Several species of Eretmocerus are major natural enemies of Bemisia tabaci in different parts of the world, and were introduced for this purpose into other regions. They kill the whiteflies by host feeding and by parasitization. In the Middle East E. mundus is a major enemy of B. tabaci. Eretmocerus siphonini Viggiani and Battaglia often controls Aleurolobus marlatti in Egypt. In Israel, Cyprus and Turkey E. debachi Rose and Rosen controls Parabemisia myricae. Several species of Eretmocerus , especially E. mundus, are in commerce.

Effect of Pesticides: The herbicide paraquat and several organophosphates were very harmful to Eretmocerus debachi. Imidacloprid and an insect growth regulator killed E. mundus.

References

Abd-Rabou, S. 2002. Biological control of two species of whiteflies by Eretmocerus siphonini (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) in Egypt. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 37: 257-260.

Abd-Rabou, S. and G. A. Evans. 2002. The Eretmocerus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) of Egypt. Mitteilungen des Internationalen Entomologischen Vereins 27: 115-123.

Abdel-Baky, N. F. and Al-Deghairi, M.A. 2008. Role of host plants on the biological aspects and parasitism levels of Eretmocerus mundus Mercet (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), a parasitoid of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Journal of Entomology 5: 356-368.

Gerling D, and Fried R, 1997. Density-related sterility in Eretmocerus mundus. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 84: 33-39.

Ghahari, H., Huang, J. and Wang, Z.-H. 2005. Biology of a thelyotokous biotype of Eretmocerus mundus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Insect Science 12: 461-465.

Rivnay, T. and Gerling, D. 1987. Aphelinidae parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Israel, with descriptions of three new species. Entomophaga 32: 463-475.

Sengonca, Ç., Uygun, N., Kersting, U. and Ulusoy, M.R. 1993. Successful colonization of Eretmocerus debachi (Hym: Aphelinidae) in the eastern Mediterranean citrus region of Turkey. Entomophaga 38: 383-390.

Sohrabi, F., Shishehbor, P., Saber, M. and Mosaddegh, M.S. 2013. Lethal and sublethal effects of imidacloprid and buprofezin on the sweetpotato whitefly parasitoid Eretmocerus mundus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Crop Protection 45: 98-103.

Swirski, E., Blumberg, D., Wysoki, M. and Izhar, Y. 1987. Biological control of the Japanese bayberry whitefly, Parabemisia myricae (Kuwana) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), in Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 21: 11-18.

Uygun, N., Sengonca, Ç., Ulusoy, M.R. and Kersting, U. 1994. Toxicity of some pesticides to Eretmocerus debachi (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), an important parasitoid of Parabemisia myricae (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 84: 119-122.

Website https://www.google.co.il/search?q=eretmocerus+images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjio42Fj_vSAhVQnRQKHYuHAd8QsAQIFw&biw=1097&bih=588#spf=1