Vitor Cezar Pacheco da Silva

• Ph.D. in Plant Protection - Entomology
• Researcher at Universidad de la República de Uruguay

The Serra Gaúcha region is the most important temperate fruit-producing area in southern Brazil. Despite mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) infesting several host plants in the region, there is a lack of information about the composition of species damaging diferent crops. A survey of mealybug species associated with commercial fruit crops (appl...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) are important pests in fruit production in Uruguay; however, very little is known about the species involved. A survey of mealybugs associated especially with fruit crops (apple, citrus, figs, grapes, pears, quince and strawberry), and other crops like vegetables and sugar cane, ornamentals and wee...

The vine mealybug (VMB), Planococcus ficus, is a major grapevine pest worldwide, whose chemical control is often unsatisfactory due to its cryptic behavior, insecticide resistance and high fecundity rate. Recently, increasing restrictions have been applied to insecticides used for managing VMB. This review discusses sustainable VMB management strat...

Parasitoids of three mealybug pests (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), Planococcus ficus (Signoret), Pseudococcus sociabilis Hambleton, and Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) have been identified for the first time in Brazil. Mealybugs were collected in fruit-growing areas along southern Brazil during 2013–2016. An integrative approach, combining morphologi...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) constitute important agricultural pests that often require control measures. Different mealybug taxa might, however, react differently to natural enemies and pesticides so that appropriate control measures against mealybugs rely heavily on the correct species identification. The mealybug Planococcu...

The lac insect, Tachardiella ourinhensis Hempel, 1937 (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Kerriidae), is redescribed and illustrated based on type material, and transferred to Neotachardiella Kondo, Peronti & Pacheco da Silva, gen. nov. as Neotachardiella ourinhensis (Hempel), comb. nov. Additionally, two new species, Neotachardiella charruarum Kondo, Peronti...

Bibionidae is a family of flies known as March flies or lovebugs. An updated list of March flies analyzed until now from Uruguay is presented. The data provided here are based on specimens deposited in the two larger Uruguayan entomological collections, new samples and literature records of Bibionidae in Uruguay. Eight species from three genera are...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classification. In this context, the B Brazilian meg...

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: se ng the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The present study aimed to report the occurrence of scale insects, namely Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linnaeus, 1758), Ischnaspis longirostris (Signoret, 1882), Pinnaspis aspidistrae (Signoret, 1869) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), and Nipaecoccus filicis Williams & Granara de Willink, 1992 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on plants of Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVa...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) include economically important insect pests worldwide. Pseudococcus Westwood is the second biggest genus in Pseudococcidae, with several pest species. Pseudococcus adult females were collected and identified from wild and cultivated plants in Turkey. Molecular and morphological characters were anal...

Mealybugs are insects belonging to the family Pseudococcidae. This family includes many plant-pest species with similar morphologies, which may lead to errors in mealybug identification and delimitation. In the present study, we employed molecular-species-delimitation approaches based on distance (ASAP) and coalescence (GMYC and mPTP) methods to id...

Mealybugs are insects belonging to the family Pseudococcidae. This family includes many plant-pest species with similar morphologies, which may lead to errors in mealybug identification and delimitation. In the present study, we employed molecular-species-delimitation approaches based on distance (ASAP) and coalescence (GMYC and mPTP) methods to id...

Linepithema micans (Forel, 1908) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is the main ant species responsible for spreading the ground pearl, Eurhizococcus brasiliensis (Wille, 1992) (Hemiptera: Margarodidae). The effect of different formulations of hydramethylnon toxic baits (TB) was evaluated on the control of L. micans and E. brasiliensis. Four formulations of...

The obscure mealybug Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is recorded for the first time from Colombia based on specimens collected on Opuntia cylindrica (Lam.) DC., Mammillaria sp. (Cactaceae), Escallonia paniculata (Ruiz & Pav.), Roem. & Schult. (Escalloniaceae), Ficus carica L. (Moraceae), Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), Ci...

Several species of Annonaceae are economically important fruit-tree crops in North-East Brazil, including Pernambuco state. However, in several regions within the state, the fruits are commonly infested by mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae). There is a lack of information about the mealybug species damaging this produce, so a survey...

The mealybug Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) has recently been detected in vineyards in southern Brazil. The ant Linepithema micans (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is the most abundant and frequent species in these vineyards, acting mainly as a disperser of the native soil scale, the ground pearl Eurhizococcus brasiliensi...

The obscure mealybug Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is one of the most important damaging mealybugs in vineyards worldwide and in South American temperate fruit production. The life history of P. viburni on 3 fruit species was studied under laboratory conditions. Leaves of apple Malus domestica (Borkh.), persimmon Diosp...

Encyrtids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) are the most important and diverse group of natural enemies of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Blepyrus clavicornis (Compere) is the most common parasitoid associated with Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) in the Serra Gaúcha region, Brazil. We conducted laboratory studies to assess the development time, sex...

Early season onion crop, despite lower yield, is an opportunity for farmers to explore market and better prices in southern Brazil. Knowing the amount absorbed and the distribution of nutrients in the plant is essential for adequate management of fertilization. However, little information on this matter is available for onion, especially for organi...

The worldwide mealybug genus Paracoccus Ezzat & McConnell (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) has eight described Neotropical species, including two species known from Brazil. In this article, we describe a third species from Brazil: Paracoccus galzerae Pacheco da Silva & Kaydan sp. n., based on the morphology of adult females collected on the...

In the last decade, the incidence of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in vineyards has increased, especially on crops grown under plastic covering, in the Serra Gaúcha region of southern Brazil where the major Brazilian wineries are concentrated. Eggs, nymphs, and female adults were collected in two highly infested vineyards in Bento Gonçalves...

Mealybug field samplings were performed on cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) roots aiming to start a stock culture in laboratory. Field collections were carried out during seasons 2010/11 and 2011/12 in Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Rearing of mealybugs were established on Cassava roots and ‘Cabotiá’ pumpkin, which showed mating and thelytokous p...

Brazil has the greatest insect diversity in the world; however, little is known about its scale insect species (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha). Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) have been found in at least 50% of persimmon orchards Diospyros kaki L. in the southern part of the country. In this study three new mealybug species on persimmon trees located in the Se...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) are important pests of the grapevine Vitis spp. and are responsible for direct and indirect damage to production. The main mealybug species present in wine grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in Southern Brazil were identified and their incidence evaluated. Bunch-samples (n = 50) from 131 vineyards located in the Ser...

Thrips tabaci Lindeman is the main pest of onion crops, and chemical control is the main method adopted by farmers. Alternative control methods should be prioritised to reduce the amount of insecticides used. Resistant cultivars are one efficient way to control thrips in the field. Our aim was to assess the influence of morphological and chemical c...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) are pests constraining the international trade of Brazilian table grapes. They damage grapes by transmitting viruses and toxins, causing defoliation, chlorosis, and vigor losses and favoring the development of sooty mold. Difficulties in mealybug identification remain an obstacle to the adequate management of t...

This experiment was conducted in the organic area of Canguiri experimental farm, in the metropolitan area of Curitiba-PR, aiming to evaluate the growth of open pollinated onion cultivars, in organic system, seeded in January – a nontraditional period. The experimental design was completely randomized, with three replications and seven cultivars: Fr...

The growing demand for organic products and the need to plant onions (Allium cepa L.) in the town of Pinhais, Brazil at different times of the year generated this study in the Organic Horticulture Experimental Station of Canguiri-Federal University of Parana, Pinhais, Brazil. The objective was to evaluate the agronomic performance of seven cultivar...