Girón, K., Lastra, L.A., Gómez L., L.A., & Mesa, N.C. 2005 Observaciones acerca de la biología y los enemigos naturales de Saccharicoccus sacchari y Pulvinaria pos elongata, dos homópteros asociados con la hormiga loca en caña de azúcar.. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 31(1): 29-35.

Notes: Title in English: [Observations on the biology and natural enemies of Saccharicoccus sacchari and Pulvinaria pos elongata, two homopterans associated with the crazy ant in sugar cane.] (Paratrechina fulva) is an insect that becomes economically important to agriculture when it establishes symbiotic relationships with sap sucking insects. In sugarcane, it is associated with Saccharicoccus sacchari and Pulvinaria pos elongata. When infestation levels are very high, Pulvinaria, in association with the ant, can induce severe losses in both sugar concentration and tonnage of cane. To understand the life cycle of each species, experiments were set up under laboratory and greenhouse conditions and the incidence of natural enemies was determined in the field in Colombia. S. sacchari had a mean life cycle of 54.8 days, passing through two instars and the adult stage; mean progeny per female was 219; they are gregarious and concentrate on the stem internodes. Two species of unidentified Encyrtidae parasitized S. sacchari, with a parasitism rate of 47%. A species of Diadiplosis (Cecidomyiidae) eats eggs of the mature females, and a fungus identified as Aspergillus pos parasiticus affected 53.2% of individuals in the field. Pulvinaria sp. had a mean life cycle of 77 days and passed through two instars and the adult. Mean progeny per female was 179; they are located on the underside of the leaf and are not very mobile. In the greenhouse, Diadiplosis coccidivora (Cecidomyiidae) fed on eggs of Pulvinaria sp. females at rates up to 85%. In the field, a wasp (Encyrtidae) was found emerging from second instar individuals of Pulvinaria sp.