Hiring in life sciences? Share your open positions with our professional community. Read more Close

Advertisement

A low-cost alternative to Parafilm for cotton boll weevil larval encapsulation and parasitism by Jaliscoa grandis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).

Created on 25 Aug 2026

Authors

Tardelly de Andrade Lima, José Bruno Malaquias, José Cola Zanuncio, José Geraldo Di Stefano, Carlos Alberto Domingues da Silva

Published in

Journal of economic entomology. Aug 25, 2026. Epub Aug 25, 2026.

Abstract

Jaliscoa grandis (Burks) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), one of the main parasitoids of the cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is mass-reared using larvae of this insect encapsulated in Parafilm, an efficient synthetic material; however, its high cost highlights the need to evaluate alternative films for this process. Three experiments were conducted. The first aimed to analyze the oviposition behavior of J. grandis in cotton squares with cotton boll weevil larvae and in cotton squares containing larvae encapsulated in different substrates. The second evaluated parasitism by J. grandis in larvae encapsulated in EVA cells with different thicknesses and types of paper covering them, compared to Parafilm. The third experiment analyzed parasitism using the alternative film and the production costs of this material for laboratory use. The numbers of perforations, eggs laid, progeny emergence, and mortality of cotton boll weevil larvae caused by the parasitoid J. grandis were similar in host larvae encapsulated with Parafilm or with EVA coated with tissue paper or paper towel. The operational and economic advantages of these alternative films, without reducing parasitism or the development of J. grandis progeny, reinforce their potential for use in augmentative biological control programs against the cotton boll weevil.

PMID:
42637274
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Advertisement

Stats

  • Community rating n/a 0 votes
  • Reviewers' rating n/a 0 votes
  • Your rating

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

  • Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
  • Views 10
  • Comments 0

Recommended by

  • No recommendations yet.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Advertisement