Eduardo Botto

• Dr. Biological Sciences.
• Head of Department at Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria

In Argentina, a classical biological control program for the Eucalyptus bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Carpintero & Dellapé), with the egg parasitoid Cleruchoides noackae Lin & Huber (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) was initiated in 2014. Parasitized eggs of the pest were imported from Uruguay, and a founder colony was established under laboratory...

The developmental time, adult longevity, survival, and fecundity of Ascogaster quadridentata reared on Cydia pomonella were studied at 25 ± 2 ºC and natural lighting. Longevity was measured in different conditions: water; water and honey; and water, honey and host. Developmental time from egg to adult was 43.67 ± 0.75 days. Honey had a significant...

The development of standard protocols for artificial rearing is essential for a suitable production of insects. The eggs of the wheat moth Sitotroga cerealella Olivier are used to rear the oophagous parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma. In the present work we evaluated the effect of three wheat types (pan, candeal, Klein Tauro) on biological param...

The availability of suitable storage methods for parasitoids is a valuable tool in biological control programs. Studies were conducted to investigate the effects of cold storage with acclimation period on the quality of Trichogramma nerudai Pintureau and Gerding. Prepupae were stored 50, 75 and 100 days at 5 °C with a previous acclimation period of...

Inundative biological control depends on the ability of natural enemies to disperse and persist in the environment. The objective was to evaluate the dispersion and persistence of Trichogrammatoidea bactrae (Nagaraja) on Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) eggs. Inundative releases of this parasitoid were performed in experimental tomato greenhouses. For verti...

Se describen aquí los estudios desarrollados sobre las plagas de Eucalyptus más relevantes en la Argentina y las acciones desarrolladas para su manejo. Los objetivos fueron, estudiar la biodiversidad de insectos presentes en Eucalyptus spp., conocer la bioecología de las plagas e identificar y seleccionar enemigos naturales para ser utilizados en e...

The red gum lerp psyllid G lycaspis brimblecombei is an invasive insect species, native from A ustralia, that specifically feeds on E ucalyptus trees. It has invaded several countries throughout the world. In A rgentina, it was first recorded in 2005, although little is known about its ecology in the region. We assessed G . brimblecombei population...

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the most devastating pests of tomato. We studied whether partially sterile T. absoluta males and fully sterile females were capable of suppressing wild populations of this moth in semi-controlled conditions. After irradiating T. absoluta pupae with 200 Gy, emerged males and females were r...

Se llevaron a cabo muestreos sobre las principales plagas de eucaliptos y sus enemigos naturales en dos sitios de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Se cuantificó la abundancia de las plagas sobre diversas especies de eucaliptos y se registraron los insectos entomófagos asociados, con el fin de identificar las interacciones que podrían ser utilizadas en...

The Eucalyptus gall wasp Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and its parasitoid, Closterocerus chamaeleon (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are reported for the first time from Argentina. O. maskelli is an invasive species of Australia that has been reported as a pest of eucalypts in many countries of Asia, Europe and America....

The tomato moth, Tuta absoluta Meyrick, is one of the most important tomato pests in South America. In Argentina, management strategies include only chemical control. In this work, the parasitoid wasp Trichogrammatoidea bactrae Nagaraja was evaluated as a potential natural enemy against this pest. Biological and population parameters were estimated...

A study was undertaken to establish the diversity within the Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) species complex in Argentina using the mitochondria cytochrome oxidase I gene (mt COI) as a molecular marker. For one haplotype, common to cotton in the Santiago Province, biotic characters were evaluated, and included host range and life history traits: fecundi...

Conidiobolus coronatus (Entomophthorales), a pathogen of human and some insects, was isolated from dead specimens of the aphid Neotoxoptera formosana present on chives leaves. C. coronatus infected aphids could pose a threat to growers health. Pest control strategies of N. formosana may also contribute to reduce the human infection risk by C. coron...

Conidiobolus coronatus, entomoftoral patógeno para el hombre y algunos insectos, se aisló a partir de especímenes muertos del áfido Neotoxoptera formosana sobre hojas de Allium schoenoprasum. La presencia de C. coronatus supone el riesgo de una potencial infección para quienes trabajan en la producción de cebollín. El control fitosanitario de N. fo...

La «polilla del tomate», Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), es una plaga clave de este cultivo en Argentina. Su manejo integrado debería incluir una selección de productos fitosanitarios que sean eficaces para su control y, al mismo tiempo, selectivos respecto de sus enemigos naturales. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la capacidad de control de los i...

The main biological attributes of two Neotropical egg parasitoids, the arrhenotokous Trichogramma nerudai and the thelytokous Trichogramma sp., were assessed under controlled laboratory conditions. Developmental time from egg to adult, and parasitoid survival, fecundity and fertility were studied using life tables. Results showed that T. nerudai ha...

The recently discovered species Trichogramma nerudai Pintureau and Gerding (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) could be useful in biological control programs of forest and agricultural insect pests (Rhyacionia buoliana Denis and Schiffermüller, Tuta absoluta Meyrick, Plutella xylostella Linnaeus, Cydia pomonella Linnaeus). The possibility of storing T...

Population parameters like the intrinsic rate of increase (rm ) have been widely used as indices of the potential performance of natural enemies. This paper deals with the development of life and fecundity tables to estimate rm and other biological parameters (ie, the net reproductive rate Ro, survival lx, specific fecundity mx, generational time T...

The woodwasp Sirex noctilio has become the most important forest pest affecting pine plantations in Argentina. Sirex was first detected in the northeastern provinces in 1985, and it has spread from there throughout most of the commercial pine plantations of the country causing great losses and tree mortality. In 1993, S. noctilio and its parasitoid...