The study was carried out during 2010-11 at farmer fields and laboratory, College of Agriculture, Osmanabad District (Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University (VNMKV), Parbhani), Maharashtra, India on the incidence of parasitoids of Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch) infesting pigeonpea. Four hymenopteran parasitoids recorded were; the Eulophid parasitoid, the torymid Torymoides sp. (Walker), two ormyrids viz., Ormyrus orientalis (Walker) and Ormyrus sp. (Westwood). As per the literature available and reviewed, Torymoides sp. is the first ever record for new host association reported from M. obtusa maggots as an ecto-parasitoid. The natural larval parasitism of M. obtusa by Torymoides sp. ranged from 3.13 to 31.82 per cent. The parasitism was observed from 51st SMW (3.13 per cent) which increased gradually and attained a peak on 6th SMW with 31.82 per cent with a mean parasitism of 9.30 per cent over a period of 13 standard meteorological weeks. The new record of natural parasitism of pod fly by Torymoides sp. would add to the existing knowledge on the biological suppression of the pest.
Keywords
Melanagromyza Obtusa, New Host Association, Parasitism, Pigeonpea, Torymoides Sp.
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