ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Insect Sci.
Sec. Insect Economics
First Report of Natural Parasitism by Telenomus remus Nixon, 1937 on Spodoptera latifascia Walker, 1856 Eggs in Puerto Rico: Insights into Spatial-temporal Dynamics in a Semiarid Tropical Region
Provisionally accepted
Daiane Dalla Nora1*
Ricardo Rubin Balardin1Ana Paula P. G. S. Wengrat2Wesley Augusto C. Godoy3
Jose Carlos Verle Rodrigues4*- 1Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 2State University of Western Paraná, Marechal Cândido Rondon, Brazil
- 3Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 4United States Department of Agriculture, Edinburg, United States
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Telenomus remus is one of the most effective parasitoids of eggs used to control key pests in agricultural systems. This wasp can parasitize many species within the genus Spodoptera, including Spodoptera latifascia. The abundance and effectiveness of T. remus are influenced by landscape composition, climatic factors, and host availability, which need to be better characterized. However, no studies have investigated how those factors simultaneously affect the population dynamics of S. latifascia and T. remus under field conditions. In this study, we used sex pheromone traps to investigate the dynamics of host-parasitoid interactions and the parasitism rate of S. latifascia eggs. We also examined how landscape structure and function influence host-parasitoid dynamics, as well as the impact of local weather on parasitoid and moth abundance and on oviposition behavior. Our results indicated that the type of pheromone used did not affect the attraction of either the parasitoid or the oviposition behavior of the host. The landscape metrics driving each insect species differed, while local weather variables showed similar effects on both species. Specifically, the total number of patches was positively related to the abundance of T. remus, whereas functional traits were closely related to the abundance of S. latifascia. Rising temperatures negatively affected egg and moth abundance, while high relative humidity was positively correlated with increased abundance of these species. This study presents, for the first time, an established population of T. remus in Puerto Rico, and insights into the temporal and spatial dynamics associated with S. latifascia.
Keywords: biological control, diversity, landscape, Noctuidae, parasitoids, Scelionidae, spatial distribution, WASP
Received: 17 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dalla Nora, Rubin Balardin, P. G. S. Wengrat, C. Godoy and Verle Rodrigues. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Daiane Dalla Nora
Jose Carlos Verle Rodrigues
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