Infection of Mononychellus tanajoa (Acari: Tetranychidae) by the fungus Neozygites sp. (Entomophthorales) in northeastern Brazil.

• Autor(a) principal: DELALIBERA JUNIOR, I.
• Data de Publicação: 1992
• Outros Autores: SOSA GOMEZ, D. R., MORAES, G. J. de, ALENCAR, J. A. de, ARAUJO, W. F.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da EMBRAPA (Repository Open Access to Scientific Information from EMBRAPA - Alice)
• Texto Completo: http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1068396
• topic: Neozygites sp; Fungus; Northeast; Insect; Inseto; Controle biologico; Mononychellus Tanajoa; Tetranychidae; Acari; Entomophthorales; biological control; infection

In 1988, an extensiv survey was initiated in northeastern Brazil to look for prospective natural enemies for the control of the exotic cassava green mite, Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar) in Africa (Moraes et al. 1990). In August 1988, a considerable number of cassava green mites infected with a fungus tentatively identified as Neozygites sp. was found in a cassava field in the central part of the state of Bahia. The identification of this fungus has not been completed because of unsettled taxonomic problems within the group (Humber et al. 1981). Voucher specimens were deposited at Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Defesa da Agricultura (CNPDA) of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA), Jaguariuna, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Infection of cassava green mite by Neozygites (= Triplosporium) species has been previously reported in Venezuela (Agudelo-Silva 1986) and Colombia (Alvarez Afanador 1990). Considering the potential of fungal pathogens as effective natural enemies of phytophagous mites (van der Geest 1985), further investigations were conducted to determine the distribution of Neozygites sp. within populations of the cassava green mite in northeastern Brazil.