Bedellia somnulentella (Lepidoptera: Bedelliidae): record of a new host and predator in Atlantic Forest biome in Minas Gerais state, Brazil

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3344358/v1

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Bedellia somnulentella (Lepidoptera: Bedelliidae): record of a new host and predator in Atlantic Forest biome in Minas Gerais state, Brazil

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3344358/v1

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Bedellia somnulentella Zeller, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Bedelliidae), microlepidoptera leafminer of plants of the Convolvulaceae family, has Ipomoea batatas as its main commercial host. The distribution of this insect is cosmopolitan, with importance in different regions of the world. The aim was to report the occurrence of B. somnulentella in a new biome and host plant and a predator of this pest in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This damaged Distimake dissectus var. edentatus (Convolvulaceae) plants in the Atlantic Forest biome in the municipality of Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Agelaia vicina Saussure, 1854 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) fed on B. somnulentella caterpillars and pupae. The record of this insect on D. dissectus var. edentatus expands the number of its hosts in a new biome. The record of the predator A. vicina increases the number of enemies and reinforces the importance of Vespidae to reducing populations of the leaf miner B. somnulentella in the field.

Biological invasion

Miner

IPM

Trade and human mobility facilitate insect biological invasions, threatening the world agriculture (Desneux et al., 2022). Bedellia somnulentella Zeller, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Bedelliidae), a microlepidoptera leaf miner, reached pest status with cosmopolitan distribution (Steyn et al., 2020). This moth was first collected in South America in Peru (NHM, 1914) and its second report was more than a century later in Diamantina, Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil (Santos et al., 2018).

Bedellia somnulentella feeds on herbaceous, shrubby and arboreal plants of the families Brassicaceae, Convolvulaceae, Salicaceae and Solanaceae (Parenti, 2000; NHM, 2022). The caterpillars of this insect cause intense defoliation of host plants and a single one can injury more than one leaf simultaneously, mainly of plants of the Convolvulaceae family (Steyn et al., 2020; Ayabe et al., 2016).

Leaf mines are characteristic damage by B. somnulentella larvae, causing defoliation and reducing the photosynthetic area of plants, such as Ipomoea batatas, its main host, of economic importance and commercialized in natura, industrialized and as fodder for animals (Santos et al., 2018).

Information about the area of occurrence, new hosts and biological control agents are important to managing B. somnulentella, an invasive insect with high dispersion potential. The objective was to report the occurrence of B. somnulentella and a new host plant and predator insect in a different biome (Atlantic Forest) in Brazil.

Injuries on a plant of the Convolvulaceae family were observed in the herbarium of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (20º45'.23.4972 S; 42º52'26.6916'' W 648 m.a.l.s.) by caterpillars, which were collected from these plants and placed in Falcon tubes (100 mL) and in cages with glass lids and organza mesh (33×33×33) receiving, as food, leaves of the host plant until the pre-pupa stage to obtaining its adults. Pupae were also collected.

Photographs of the flower, leaf and sepal of the insect's host plant were sent to Dr. John Wood of the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Park Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK and Dra. Ana Rita Giraldes Simões of the Department of Biology, Ghent University and visiting professor at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom.

The wings of five specimens of the moth, obtained from rearing, were clarified and compared with those of the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), identified as B. somnulentella by the taxonomist Dr. Vitor Osmar Becker of the Department of Zoology of the Universidade de Brasília (UNB).

Vespidae preyed on B. somnulentella caterpillars and pupae on the host plant. A specimen of this insect was collected and sent to Dr. Marcos Magalhães de Souza, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas Gerais, Brazil, for identification.

The host plant, specimens of B. somnulentella and the predator were photographed using a Canon EOS Rebel 850D camera.

The moth specimens were deposited in the entomological collection of the UFVJM without an identification number. The specimen of Vespidae was deposited in the Biological Collection of Social Wasps (CBVS) of IFSULDEMINAS, Campus Inconfidentes, under identification number 10365 − 2022.

Bedellia somnulentella injured Distimake dissectus var. edentatus (Convolvulaceae) plants in the Atlantic Forest biome, municipality of Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Fig. 1). The collected caterpillars and pupae completed the biological cycle by feeding on D dissectus var. edentates leaves. This plant is annual, but B. somnulentella was observed from April to May of 2022 and 2023. Plants of Ipomoea alba, Ipomoea batatas, Ipomoea cairica and Ipomoea purpurea were present in the area, but only those of D. dissectus var. edentatus were injured (Fig. 2 -a, b, c, d and e).

The Vespidae preyed on B. somnulentella caterpillars on D. dissectus var. edentates and pupae of this insect on the abaxial part of the leaves of this plant, in the municipality of Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, Brazil and it was identified as Agelaia vicina Saussure, 1854 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) (Fig. 2 - f).

The record of B. somnulentella on plants of D. dissectus var. edentatus increases the number of hosts of this insect, which damaged I. batatas, its main host, in the regions of the North (Salinas), Vale do Jequitinhonha (Diamantina) and South (Lavras) of Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Santos et al., 2020). In addition, this insect has been reported on the weeds Calystegia pubescens, Calystegia sepium, Convolvulus althaeoides, Convolvulus arvensis, Convolvulus siculus, Convolvulus tricolor, Ipomoea aquatica, Ipomoea batatas, Ipomoea purpurea and Ipomoea somnulenta (Convolvulaceae), Salix sp. (Salicaceae), Sisymbrium irium (Brassicaceae) and Solanum melongena (Solanaceae) (Parenti, 2000; NHM, 2022; Cabral et al., 2022). However, B. somnulentella prefers plants of the genus Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae).

Adaptation to different hosts favors the dispersal of the leaf miner B. somnulentella as a cosmopolitan insect pest, as reported for Tuta absoluta Meyrick, 1917 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), another microlepidoptera with similar characteristics and wide distribution in the world on commercial plants such as Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum tuberosum, weeds such as Solanum nigrum (Solanaceae) and on plants of the Amaranthaceae, Convolvulaceae, Fabaceae and Malvaceae families (Desneux et al., 2010, Abbes et al., 2016; Bawin et al., 2016).

Bedellia somnulentella established itself in a new area, with a high altitude, tropical climate, and an average annual temperature of 19°C, varying between 14°C and 32°C. In other municipalities, where the insect has been reported, the variations of this variable is low, such as Diamantina, with 19ºC, Lavras, 20ºC and Salinas, 23ºC (Santos et al., 2020 b).

The record of A. vicina preying on B. somnulentella larvae and pupae increases the number of natural enemies of this family for this pest. Agelaia vicina occurs mainly in the Southeast and some South Brazil areas has been reported to occur in the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, Southeast, and Rio Grande do Sul, South Brazil (Souza et al., 2020). The colony of his insect can host 1 million of cells, with horizontal and uniform combs. The offspring of this insect are usually near the center of the colony, with the peripheral cells empty as a protection against parasitoids and predators. The wasp builds its colonies in different places, including exposed ones (Jeanne, 1995; Zuchi, 1995; Oliveira et al., 2010). Individuals of A. vicina forages between 6 AM to 6 PM with specific areas of foraging. The diet of this insect comprises at least species of ten insect orders and spiders, but mainly Lepidoptera (Brigatte et al., 2011; Southon et al., 2019).

Protonectarina sylveirae Saussure, 1854 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) fed on B. somnulentella caterpillars and pupae in a plantation of I. batatas in the municipality of Diamantina, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Cabral et al., 2024). Horismenus cupreus Ashmead, 1894 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Conura sp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) parasitized thousands of B. somnulentella pupae (Santos et al., 2021; 2022), individually, in Brazil. Other natural enemies of B. somnulentella caterpillars include Apanteles bedelliae Viereck, Apanteles tapatapaoanus Fullaway, 1946,Apanteles ingenuoides Papp, 1971, Protapanteles triangulator Wesmael, 1837 and other Hymenoptera of the genera Apanteles spp. and Microplitis spp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), in addition to the parasitoids Diadegma elisha and Nythobia koizumii (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), Spilochalcis albifrons (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) and Elachertus spp., Horismenus spp., and Sympiesis spp. (Eulophidae) (CABI et al., 2022), probably pupal and solitary parasitoids. Natural enemies of miners are numerous, such as predatory bugs of the families Anthocoridae, Geocoridae, Miridae, Nabidae and Pentatomidae (Desneux et al., 2010, Zappala et al., 2013; Calvo et al., 2016), species of the family Vespidae and others arthropods such as ants, earwigs, ground beetles, lacewings, ladybugs, predatory mites, spiders and,thrips, (Picanço et al., 1998; Desneux et al., 2010, Zappalaet al., 2013).

The record of B. somnulentella on D. dissectus var. edentatus plants increases the number of hosts of this species in a new biome (Atlantic Forest) and the predator A. vicina, the enemies of this pest, reinforcing the importance of Vespidae in the biological control of B. somnulentella larvae in the field.

Acknowledgments

To Dr. John Wood and Dra. Ana Rita Giraldes Simões for identifying the botanical material. To Philipe Guilherme Corcino Souza, from the Graduate Program in “Produção Vegetal at UFVJM”, for preparing the map. To “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES- Código Financeiro 001), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and “Programa Cooperativo sobre Proteção Florestal (PROTEF)” of the “Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Florestais (IPEF)”.

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Bedellia somnulentella (Lepidoptera: Bedelliidae): record of a new host and predator in Atlantic Forest biome in Minas Gerais state, Brazil

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