QUALITY OF Euschistus heros (Fabricius, 1798), RAISED ON DIFFERENT DIETS OVER FIVE GENERATIONS, AIMING AT MASS PRODUCTION OF THE PARASITOID Telenomus podisi Ashmead, 1893

• Grant number: 24/22325-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: José Roberto Postali Parra
• Grantee: Júlia Dalfré Jacon
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ)
• Associated research grant: 18/02317-5 - Center for Excellence in Biological Control, AP.PCPE

Abstract

Despite the growth of biological control in Brazil, there are still significant challenges that must be faced. One of them relates to the large-scale production needed to cover the vast agricultural area of the country. Augmentative biological control requires the rearing of a large number of insects, which in turn demands optimization in mass rearing. A promising example in the use of biological control is the use of the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi for the control of the soybean stink bug Euschistus heros, the main pest of soybean crops in Brazil. However, large-scale production of this parasitoid faces difficulties in obtaining the large quantities of eggs needed to meet the demands of farmers. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of studies on artificial diets for phloem-feeding insects, which reveals a promising field for research focused on rearing techniques that will enable increased use of biological control. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the quality of E. heros reared on three different diets: natural diet, freeze-dried artificial diet, and pelleted artificial diet, to determine the best diet for rearing the stink bug