Anonymous, N/A 1986b Role of indigenous hyperparasitoids in biological control of cassava mealybug in Africa.. Annual report and research highlights (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) (1985) pp. 107-109.
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Notes: The encyrtid parasite Epidinocarsis lopezi has become established in 13 countries in Africa where it has been introduced and released as an agent for the biological control of the pseudococcid Phenacoccus manihoti on cassava. Ten species of indigenous hyperparasites have been recovered from E. lopezi in countries where extensive monitoring has been carried out. At one farm in Nigeria, hyperparasitism reached 52.1% 4 months after E. lopezi had been released. Hyperparasitism did not prevent the rapid dispersal of E. lopezi and efficient control of P. manihoti. Four large-scale surveys in south-western Nigeria in the period from March 1983 to December 1984 demonstrated a positive density-dependent relationship in time between hyperparasite and parasite populations. Thus, when E. lopezi succeeds in keeping mealybug populations low, its own populations do not reach the same high levels as they often do immediately after establishment, and the percentage hyperparasitism falls. With the collapse of mealybug populations, those of coccinellids and other predators also fell.
