TRICHOGRAMMA SPP. (HYMENOPTERA: TRICHOGRAMMATIDAE) SPECIES AND STRAINS FOR THE CONTROL OF ANTICARSIA GEMMATALIS (LEPIDOPTERA

ABSTRACT Several Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) species parasitize Anticarsia gemmatalis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs, the major soybean desfoliator in Brazil. The objective of this work was to evaluate the parasitism of eleven Trichogramma species/strains in cardboards with twenty eggs of A. gemmatalis by this parasitoid female for 24 hours. The strain trat - 2 Trichogramma atopovirilia (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) of Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, showed better performance with 19 A. gemmatalis eggs parasitized by female in 24 hours, 98% viability and sex ratio of 0.84. The strain Trichogramma pretiosum of Crystalline, Goiás, parasitized 11.9 A. gemmatalis eggs per female with 98% viability and sex ratio of 0.65. This work confirms the importance of evaluating Trichogramma strains before biological control programs, because different strains of the same species of parasitoid have distinct results.