Development of an automated system for mass production of Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller, 1879) eggs and the parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879

• Grant number: 17/04770-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Lucila Wadt
• Grantee: Lucila Wadt
• Company: Ibi Agentes Biológicos Ltda
• CNAE: Cultivo de cana-de-açúcar ; Cultivo de soja ; Horticultura
• City: Araras
• Associated research grant: 15/22671-0 - Development of an automated system for mass production of Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller, 1879) eggs and the eggs parasitoids Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/21533-0 - Development of an automated system for mass production of Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller, 1879) eggs and the parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879, BP.PIPE; 17/23271-0 - Development of an automated system for mass production of Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller, 1879) eggs and the parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879, BP.PIPE

Abstract

Biological control is an alternative method of pest control, which uses natural enemies and/or entomopathogenic. This method of control has been developing in a vertiginous way in the modern world, because it is less aggressive to the environment and to man, since it does not present the negative effects of pesticides. In Brazil this method of control is a reality, large areas have been treated with biological control agents, but given the proportions of Brazilian agriculture, these areas represent less than 1% of the cultivated area in the country. The present proposal is the continuation of a proposal that defined methods to automate and cheapen the Anagasta kuehniella rearing, an alternative host used in mass rearing of natural enemy insects, mainly parasitoids of eggs of the genus Trichogramma and predators such as mites, stinkbugs and lacewings. This automation was obtained by maximizing the number of insects produced by trays and defining a method for collecting adult moths on a larger scale, thus reducing the amount of labor employed. The project also defined a mass rearing method of Trichogramma pretiosum, an egg parasitoid already widely used in Brazil, respecting intraspecific characteristics of insects in relation to climatic requirements. (AU)