NATURAL ENEMIES important agricultural pests might be threatened by parasitoids - ENEMIGOS NATURALES de importantes plagas agrícolas podrían estar amenzadas por parasitoides

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Current knowledge on coccinellids is primarily focused on their role as natural enemies of soft-bodied insects. However, there is a great diversity of coccinellid parasitoid species that are less studied. A recent publication describes new records of coccinellid parasitoids with emphasis on new host–parasitoid interactions in 11 sample sites in Brazil. They collected 122 coccinellid individuals parasitized by six species of parasitoids in the Cerrado and in the Atlantic Rainforest biomes, including strawberry and vegetable farms. New records of coccinellid parasitoids and host associations, expansion of habitat ranges and interactions are discussed in this study, focusing on the lack of basic information on these interactions in Brazil.

Source: Togni et al., 2015 (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13744-015-0309-2)