Biological control of Thrips tabaci on tomato crop by their parasitoid "Ceranisus menes”

Abstract

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) represent one of the leading vegetable crops grown around the globe. Among the insects with destructive impacts on tomato production, onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman) are among the most significant. While thrips damage tomatoes directly by feeding on plant tissues, they also damage tomato plants indirectly by introducing viruses into plants infected with the thrips, which can create considerable economic losses in tomato production. Currently, most pest management techniques used to control pest populations utilize chemical insecticides, which typically lead to pest resistance to pesticides, environmental degradation, and harm to beneficial organisms. Because of the growing concern about the use of pesticides for pest and disease management, biological control method to manage pest populations using their natural enemies has become very appealing as an environmentally friendly alternative method of pest control. One type of natural enemy for thrips are wasps in the genus Ceranisus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), which have received much attention because of their ability to effectively control thrips larvae through parasitization. Ceranisus menes (Walker) is a solitary larval endoparasitoid that parasitizes a number of different species of thrips, including T. tabaci. The female wasp lays her eggs within the early larval instars of thrips and then the wasp larvae develop in the thrips and eventually kill them.  Research has demonstrated that C. menes    can effectively decrease thrips populations in agricultural ecosystems, especially when used in conjunction with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. C. menes    has been characterized as having a relatively fast life cycle and a high capacity for reproduction. Reproduction occurs primarily through the laying of approximately 80 eggs, and larvae of the first instar are the preferred hosts for C. menes . Field studies have also shown that T. tabaci is naturally parasitized by Ceranisus species in agricultural fields, suggesting that C. menes    may assist in controlling the proliferation of thrips in certain IPM systems. This current review examines the potential of C. menes   for the biological control of T. tabaci in tomato production systems by providing a synthesis of the currently available literature on the biology, ecology, host's relationship to Ceranisus menes  and other information regarding the effectiveness of Ceranisus menes  within IPM systems. Furthermore, the future directions for research into improved biological control strategies for sustainable crop production are discussed.