© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Bioecology of
Nephopterygia austeritella
on
Prosopis farcta
85
were found (Table 3). The highest mortality
(10.92%) of the larvae was recorded in 2009
due to an unknown factor (internal parasi-
toid or entomopathogen). Three and two
larvae were found to be parasitized in 2008
and 2009, respectively. Two braconid par-
asitoids,
Apanteles subcamilla
Tobias and
Phanerotoma
leucobasis
Kriechbaumer were
found to parasitize the larvae of
N
.
austeritel-
la
(Table 3). An unidentified spider was ob-
served guarding its egg mass near the an-
aesthetized larva of
N
.
austeritella
.
Both parasitoid wasps were gregarious
larval ectoparasitoids of
N
.
austeritella
. Each
host larva was attacked by at most six para-
sitoid larvae in the pods of
P
.
farcta
. The last
larval instar of the parasitoids underwent its
pupal stage inside a white cocoon near its
host body and the adult wasp emerged in
September. These species were responsible
for about 1.68-3.03% of mortality of
N
.
aus-
teritella
larvae (Table 3).
Discussion
The present study has revealed for the first
time some basic bioecological aspects of
N
.
austeritella
in its native habitat as a fruit feed-
ing agent of
P
.
farcta
. This information will
be valuable for identifying biological con-
trol agents from the genus
Prosopis
(John-
son, 1983; Mc Kay and Gandolfo, 2007). The
life cycle of
N
.
austeritella
synchronized well
with the period of fruit formation of
P
.
farcta
.
The larvae consumed all the seeds and me-
socarp of ripening pods of
P
.
farcta
(Figure
2E). Larval feeding resulted in a destruction
of 29.6-38.4% of the pods of the plant leav-
ing no viable seeds. Considering that each
P
.
farcta
pod consists of 1-9 seeds,
N
.
auster-
itella
has a larger impact on decreasing the
long-lived seed bank of the plant in nature
compared with the bruchid beetle,
Carye-
don angeri
which consumes a fraction of the
seeds of
P
.
farcta
(less than 50%) within a
pod (Johnson, 1983; Sertkaya
et al.,
2005).
Nephopterygia
austeritella
was the only
pyralid moth consuming the ripening pods
of
P
.
farcta
. Pyralids are ecologically impor-
tant herbivores attacking noxious weeds
(McFadyen, 1998; Blossy, 2007; Roe
et al.,
2015). Seven species of the family Pyrali-
dae have been universally reported target-
ing reproductive organs of
P
.
alba
,
P
.
glandu-
losa
,
P
.
juliflora
and
P
.
velutina
(Beccaloni
et
al.,
2003), six of which occur only in the New
World.
As host specificity is one of the most im-
portant advantages of a biological control
agent (Sheppard
et al.,
2005; Bourchier
et al.,
2006; Blossy, 2007),
N. austeritella
which has
been yet only reported on
P
.
farcta
, can be
considered as a promising candidate for bi-
ological control of the species of the genus
Prosopis
. Its closely related genus
Nephop-
terix
has a restricted host range to the spe-
cies of
Euphorbia
(Cristofaro
et al.,
1998). In
North America, larvae of
Nephopterix divi-
sella
Duponchel complete their life cycle
on seven species, all in the genus
Euphor-
bia
. Cristofaro
et al
. (1998) considered
N. divi-
sella
as a natural agent against two
Euphor-
bia
species namely,
E. milii
Desmoulins and
E. trigona
Haworth. Five species of the ge-
nus
Prosopis
are recorded from Iran, where
Table 3.
Natural enemies of
Nephopterygia austeritella
larvae in Yazd, Iran.
Year
Nr of
collected
larvae
Nr of
parasitized
larvae
Nr of dead
larvae
Mortality (%)
Natural enemy
2008
99
3
------
3.03
Apanteles subcamilla
Phanerotoma leucobasis
2009
119
2
------
1.68
Phanerotoma leucobasis
------
13
10.92
unknown
------
1
0.84
spider
Total
218
5
14
8.71
