Paracoccus marginatus, source of parasitoids, Togo

January 2013. A member from Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique (ItrA), Togo asked about a source for the parasitoids of the Papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus.

The Papaya mealybug parasitoids Acerophagus papayae, Anagyrus loecki, Pseudleptomastix mexicanaare available at the Puerto Rico laboratory of USDA APHIS. Acerophagus papayaeis available at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Coimbatore and National Bureau for Agriculturally Important Insects at Bangalore, India. Ghana has imported all the three parasitoids in 2010 from Puerto Rico and it may be another source for obtaining them.

Guam asked what was the most effective parasitoid introduced to control the Papaya mealybug in that country and also Palau? It was Acerophagus papayae. Pohnpei, Federated States of Mincronesia asked which parasitoid was present there too. The country did not introduce any parasitoids; whatever is present there came with the pest!