Citrus Leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Phyllocnistidae) and Its Natural Enemies

Abstract

Biological study of the citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Phyllocnistidae) revealed that egg eclosion was 3.10±0.46 days. The larva consisted of four instars before pupation. The mean durations of larval, pupal, male and female adults were 4.20±0.53, 8.04±0.92, 2.59±0.93 and 4.04±1.26 days, respectively. The analysis of biological life table resulted in the following biological attributes: the net reproductive rate of increase (R_o) was 23.3946; the capacity for increase (r_c) was 0.1944; the finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.2146 and the cohort generation time (T_c) was 16.2158 days. The investigation on natural enemy complex of P. citrella was conducted in many citrus areas in Thailand. Survey carried out from July 1998 to June 2000 found 11 species of hymenopterous parasites namely Quadrastichus sp., Citrostichus phyllocnistoides (Narayanan), Teleopterus sp. and Microbracon sp. as larval parasites, and Ageniaspis citricola Logvinovskaya, Cirrospilus ingenuus Gahan, Sympiesis striatipes (Ashmead), Closterocerus trifasciatus Westwood, Eurytoma sp., Zaommomentedon brevipetiolatus Kamijo and Tetrastichus sp. as pupal parasites. The other natural enemies as predators were found in the larvae of Chrysoperla sp. and some spiders feeding on larvae of P. citrella. The evaluation revealed that Quadrastichus sp. was the most important larval parasite and A. citricola was the most important pupal parasite. These parasites would be used as biological control agents of P. citrella in Thailand.