Summary: Aphidius colemani(Viereck) was reported in Brazil before the BiologicalControl Program of Wheat Aphids (BCPWA) when Mediterranean genotypeswere introduced from France and Israel. This species was re-described as acomplex calledA. colemanigroup composed of three species. Consequently,uncertainty remains about which parasitoid of the group is occurring insouthern Brazil. This study has two main objectives: (i) re-examine the spe-cies status ofA. colemanigroup collected during the introduction of para-sitoids and from a 10-year (2009?2018) monitoring program in wheat fieldsin northern Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil; (ii) describe the variation in thepopulation density of parasitoids andits association with meteorologicalfactors during this period. We examined 116 specimens from the EmbrapaWheat entomological collection, and those collected in Moericke traps inCoxilha, RS. All the parasitoids of theA. colemanigroup from the BCPWAperiod were identified asAphidius platensis(Brèthes). In traps, 6541 cerealaphid parasitoids were collected, of which 61.9% (n=4047)werefromA. colemanigroup and all those were identified asA. platensis.Temperature was the factor that effected population density with the high-est number of parasitoids recorded inthe winter months. Sex ratio changedbetween years varying from 0.50 to 0.97. The parasitoidA. platensiswas theonly species in theA. colemanigroup sampled during 10 years of monitoring

Publication year: 2019

Types of publication: Journal article

Unit: Embrapa Wheat

Keywords: Aphidius colemani, Cereal aphid, Cryptic taxa, Parasitoids, Taxonomy