Natural enemy fauna of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) infesting vegetables in Kerala, India

An investigation was carried out at different districts of Kerala to identify the natural enemy fauna associated with the mealybugs during 2017-2020. Twenty species of predators belongs to five families under four orders viz. Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Neuroptera were recorded from mealybugs infesting vegetables in Kerala. The predominant family was coccinellidae with 16 species under six genera and the majority belongs to the genus Scymnus .Among the various predators documented, Cacoxenus sp. was recorded the first time as a predator of Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi Gimpel and Milller. Eleven hymenopteran parasitoids belonging to five families were documented from mealybugs, of which the majority belongs to the family Encyrtidae. The record of Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) on Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell), Blepyrus insularis (Cameron) on P. jackbeardsleyi , Leptomastix tsukumiensis Tachikawa on Coccidohystrix insolita Green, Promuscidea unfasciativentris Girault on Coccidohystrix insolita Green and Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink were documented for the first time. The study also identified six hyper parasitoids under the family Encyrtidae, of which Cheiloneurus nankingensis Li & Xu was recorded for the first time in India.