MEASURING HOST FINDING CAPACITY AND ARRESTMENT OF NATURAL ENEMIES OF THE CASSAVA MEALYBUG, PHENACOCCUS-MANIHOTI, IN THE FIELD

In uninfested fields, 80 cassava tips were artificially infested with 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 third instars, and 20 or 100 eggs of cass ava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Hem., Pseudococcida e). Another 80 uninfested tips served as a control. Tips were arranged in a circle of 28 m diameter, in the centre of which the following ex otic natural enemies of P. manihoti were released: Apoanagyrus (Epidin ocarsis) lopezi De Santis and A. diversicornis (Howard) (Hym., Encyrti dae), Hyperaspis notata (Mulsant) and Diomus hennesseyi Fursch (Col., Coccinellidae), and others. This experiment was repeated six times. Du ring the 4-14 days following release, all experimental tips were inspe cted at two-hour intervals during each day and the presence of exotic as well as indigenous natural enemies, like Exochomus troberti Mulsant (Col., Coccinellidae), ants and spiders was noted. The experiment was repeated six times measured the aggregative response by the natural e nemies to different host densities, achieved through host attractance and arrestment. All exotic natural enemies, except the males of Apoana gyrus spp., were fast attracted to the host colonies. As compared to t he control tips, they concentrated on the infested tips about 50-fold for the two Apoanagyrus spp, and 10 to 20-fold for the exotic coccinel lids. By contrast, non-coevolved indigenous coccinellids, as well as g eneralist predators like ants and spiders were attracted to the infest ed tips only 2 to 5-fold. A. lopezi responded best to different host d ensities, followed by A. diversicornis and the coccinellids, followed by ants and spiders. None of the parasitoids or predators was particul arly attracted to egg masses. These results correspond closely to the known efficiencies of these natural enemies, A. lopezi standing out am ong all candidates. The results of such aggregation studies are compar ed with those of life-table studies.