Mealybugs (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae) and their parasitoids on vegetables in protected agriculture in México

In the current century, there has been an increase in vegetable production in protected agriculture, as well as an increasing incidence of some insect pests. For example, some hemipterans such as mealybugs are sometimes a problem with greenhouse vegetables, but farmers do not have the same problem with vegetables grown in open fields. The objective of this work was to identify species of mealybugs and their natural enemies on vegetables in protected agriculture in México. Sampling was carried out in greenhouses and net houses, mainly in pepper and tomato, from 11 regions of the country. Mealybugs adult females were collected for processing and mounting, and some mealybugs immature and adults were kept in net devices to record the emergence of their parasitoids. Four species of mealybugs were identified, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, Phenacoccus solani Ferris, and Phenacoccus madeirensis Green were collected more frequently; Ferrisia virgata Cockerell (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was recovered only once. Ten species of parasitoids were identified: Acerophagus angelicus Howard, Aenasius arizonensis Girault, Dicarnosis ripariensis Kerrich, Cheiloneurus sp. Westwood, Ectromaptosis americana Howard, Anagyrus paralia Noyes and Menezes, Holcencyrtus osborni Timberlake, Anagyrus tristis Noyes and Hayat (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Chartocerus axillaris De Santis (Hymenoptera: Signiphoridae) and Allotropa sp. Förster (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae). Three of them were first recorded in México, and six had a new host record.