Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard)
Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Hymenopotera, Apocrita, Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan.
Morphology: Body of adults mostly shiny black, anterior leg segments dark, others brown.
Life history: Anisopteromalus calandrae is an ectoparasitoid that attacks several beetles. Its females are attracted to products infested by pest larvae, locate them and pierce their bodies. The hosts are thus paralyzed and an egg is then placed on their bodies. The hatched parasitoid larva develops within 2-3 weeks on the host’s body fluids, optimally at temperatures around 30°C. Adults provided with honey live for approximately 4 weeks and a female produces about 140 eggs. Adults emerging from Callosobruchus maculatus were significantly larger and heavier than those that had developed on other hosts.
Economic importance: Being polyphagous, A. calandrae can kill large numbers of several stored product pest beetles, thereby greatly reducing the extent of their damage.. Rates of control depend on the container of the commodity and on the beetle host. Parasitism was highest on Rhyzopertha dominica, nil on Oryzaephilus surinamensis. In scattered wheat 76% of Sitophilus oryzae were parasitized, as against only 30.0 and 47.0% of the same pest in small cotton or burlap bags.
Effect of pesticides: Anisopteromalus calandrae has become resistant to organophosphates. Treatments with diatomaceous earth, applied against S. oryzae, were very detrimental to the parasitoid.
References
Ahmed, K.S. 1996. Studies on the ectoparasitoid, Anisopteromalus calandrae How. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) as a biocontrol agent against the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (Fab.) in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Stored Products Research 32: 137-140.
Baker, J.E. and Beeman, R.W. 1997. Inheritance of malathion resistance in the parasitoid Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 90: 304-308.
Belda, C. and Riudavets, J. 2010. Attraction of the parasitoid Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) to odors from grain and stored product pests in a Y-tube olfactometer. Biological Control 54: 29-34.
Cline,L.D., Press, J.W. and Flaherty, B.R. 1985. Suppression of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) inside and outside of burlap, woven polypropylene, and cotton bags by the parasitic wasp Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 78: 835-838.
El-Aw M.A., Askar, S.I.S., Abd El-Latif, A.M. and Al-Assaal M.S. 2016. Effect of different temperatures on some biological parameters of Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) and population fluctuations of the parasitoids and their insect hosts of the genus Sitophilus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). International Journal of Entomology and Nematology Research 1: 1-12.
Ghimire, M.N. and Phillips, T.W. 2007. Suitability of five species of stored product insects as hosts for development and reproduction of the parasitoid Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 100: 1732-1739
Gothilf, S. 1969, Natural enemies of the carob moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller). Entomophaga 14: 195-202.
Hany A.S., Abd El-Gawad, Abd El-Aziz, E. and Atef M.M. Sayed, 2009. Effect of releasing the parasitoid Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) on certain coleopteran stored products beetles in Egypt. Egyptian Academy Journal of Biological Sciences 2: 211-219.
Kazemi, F., Talebi, A. A. and Fathipour, Y. 2008. A Study on the biological and behavioural parameters of Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hym.: Pteromalidae), a parasitoid of Callosobruchus maculatus (Col.: Bruchidae) on chickpea. Journal of Science, Technology, Agriculture and Natural Resources 12, No. 45
Ngamo, T. S. L., Kouninki, H., Ladang, Y. D., Ngassoum, M. B., Mapongmestsem, P. M. and Hance T. 2007. Potential of Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera:Pteromalidae) as biocontrol agent of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleopetera: Bruchidae). African Journal of Agricultural Research2: 168-172.
Perez-Mendoza, J., Baker, J.E., Arthur, F.H. and, Flinn, P.W. 1999. Effects of Protect-It on efficacy of Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) parasitizing rice weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in wheat. Biological Control 28: 529-534.
Tawfik, M.F.S., Awadallah, K.T., El-Husseini, M.M. and Afifi, A.I. 1987. Survey on stored drug insect mite pests and their associated natural enemies in Egypt. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d’Egypte 65: 267-274
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