Anonymous, N/A 1985a Dissemination, dispersal, and impact of E. lopezi - a natural enemy of the cassava mealybug.. Research Highlights (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) 1984: 35-39.

Notes: About 50000 adults of Epidinocarsis lopezi were released in Congo, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Zaire and Zambia in 1981-84 for the biological control of Phenacoccus manihoti on cassava. The spread of the parasite in a large cassava-growing area of Nigeria at 5-170 km/year and its impact on P. manihoti are described. A reduction in the number of mealybugs to below the injury level was observed in every zone colonized by E. lopezi. In those zones, mealybug populations reached peak densities of 10-20 per terminal cassava shoot or less, as compared with more than 1500 per shoot before the introduction of the parasite. Where mealybug populations are low, E. lopezi has become the dominant natural enemy, whereas local natural enemies have decreased in numbers. The extent of mealybug infestation and spread of released natural enemies were surveyed in Zaire in 1984.