Biology at Different Temperatures, Thermal Requirements, and Ecological Zoning of Opogona sacchari (Lepidoptera: Tineidae).

The banana moth, Opogona sacchari (Bojer, 1856), is a polyphagous pest that causes serious damage to different crops around the world, particularly to bananas in southern Brazil. The insect is designated a quarantine pest in several countries including Argentina, the main consumer market for bananas produced in southern Brazil. To provide support for the management of O. sacchari, the present study investigated the biology and thermal requirements at eight temperatures (18, 22, 25, 28, 30, 32, 33, and 34 ± 1°C) and constructed a fertility life table at five temperatures (18, 22, 25, 28, and 30 ± 1°C). Above 30°C, the mortality of all life stages was 100%; the best temperature for development was 25°C. Based on this information, an ecological zoning of the pest was developed for Brazil. The lower temperature threshold was 8.6°C. The zoning indicated that the pest does not occur in regions with warmer climates, corresponding to the actual distribution of this pest in Brazil.

Applied Biological Control in Brazil: From Laboratory Assays to Field Application.

Brazil has a long history of the use of biological control (BC) of pests. The first attempt to use parasitoids was reported in the 1930s, and the first successful case dates to 1967. For a long period, chemical products were the most widespread control measure among Brazilian growers. This situation has gradually changed because of the lack of satisfactory control to manage certain pests, a slow change in the culture of growers, and some emblematic cases of the successful use of BC. The use of BC as a component of Integrated Pest Management is increasingly common. The present contribution summarizes the evolution of BC in Brazil, citing as an example the case of successful use of Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Trichogramma spp. It presents some data on the utilization of BC in the country, such as the case of sugarcane, for which microorganisms as well as macroorganisms are used; the use of Baculovirus in soybean, produced in mass-reared lepidopteran larvae; and the recent case of the control of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) by the parasitoid Tamarixia radiata. Finally, the prospects for wider use of BC in Brazil are discussed, together with the challenges involved in broadening the growers' use of this technology.