Megacopta cribraria ( F.) 307
Gardner et al. (2013a) also reported finding adults on several plants, but few eggs and nymphs. Some
of the plant associations in the United States may be mating aggregations as was observed in Japan,
but the adults may derive some nutrition from feeding on these plants even if the plants are not suitable
developmental hosts. In fact, Lovejoy and Johnson (2014) conducted molecular analyses of chloroplasts
in the guts of wild-collected M. cribraria and identified chloroplasts from a diverse variety of plants as
follows: pine (Pinus sp.) (Pinaceae), red oak (Quercus rubra L.) (Fagaceae), peanut (Arachis hypogaea
L.), white sweet clover, black medic (Medicago lupulina L.), lespedeza (Lespedeza sp.) (Fabaceae),
tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) (Solanaceae), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) (Asteraceae), sweet
gum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) (Altingiaceae), walnut (Juglans sp.) (Juglandaceae), and sorghum
[Sorghum bicolor (L.)] (Poaceae). This suggests that these bugs at least feed on, and possibly acquire
nutrients from, a much wider variety of plants than those that serve as developmental hosts. As the bug
and its symbionts adapt to the New World, they may be able to expand the range of suitable native host
plants.
5.4.3 Natural Enemies
5.4.3.1 Parasitoids
5.4.3.1.1 Parasitoids in the Old World
Heteroptera are most commonly parasitized by hymenopterous egg parasitoids and flies of the family
Tachinidae, although the latter have not been reported from Megacopta cribraria in the Old World.
Egg parasitoids reported from M. cribraria in the Old World are Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd),
P. tetartus (Crawford), Trissolcus latisulcus (Crawford), and Trissolcus sp. (Scelionidae), Ooencyrtus
nezarae Ishi (Encyrtidae), and Ablerus sp. and Encarsiella boswelli (Girault) (Aphelinidae) (Watanabe
1954, Ahmad and Moizuddin 1976; Mani and Sharma 1982; Bin and Colazza 1988; Polaszek and Hayat
1990, 1992; Hirose et al. 1996; Huang and Polaszek 1996; Johnson 1996; Rajmohan and Narendran 2001;
Schmidt and Polaszek 2007). Ruberson et al. (2013) provided a detailed review of the biology of these
parasitoids.
Paratelenomus saccharalis is a widespread parasitoid of the family Plataspidae and is reported from
the same geographic area as that occupied by plataspids (Africa, Southern Europe, Tropical Asia, and
Northern Australia) (Johnson 1996). This parasitoid has not been reported from hosts other than plat-
aspids and is being investigated as a potential biological control agent for Megacopta cribraria in the
United States where it has not been found to parasitize native species (Ruberson et al. 2013). In Japan,
Takagi and Murakami (1997) reported that M. cribraria and P. saccharalis colonize soybean fields in
early July and reproduce until the end of August, and that the parasitoid requires 12–25 days to complete
development at temperatures of 20–30°C. Also in Japan, Yamagishi (1990) stated that this parasitoid was
multivoltine and recorded high rates of parasitism from late May into early September. In China, Wall
(1928) reported 51% total parasitism of M. cribraria eggs by this species. P. saccharalis appears to be
a relatively specific and efficient parasitoid of plataspid eggs and may be suitable for biological control
programs.
Other scelionids reported from Megacopta cribraria are Paratelenomus tetartus and Trissolcus lati-
sulcus (Bin and Colazza 1988, Mani and Sharma 1982), although M. cribraria was not mentioned as
a host for either in Johnson’s (1991, 1996) revisions of these genera. Indeed, Wall (1931) misidentified
P. saccharalis as P. tetartus (reported as Dissolcus tetartus). T. latisulcus was reported to parasitize
Pentatomidae, Scutelleridae, and Tessaratomidae by Johnson (1996).
In addition to Megacopta cribraria, the encyrtid Ooencyrtus nezarae attacks eggs of a range of hosts,
including the families Alydidae, Coreidae, and Pentatomidae (Takasu and Hirose 1986, Takasu et al.
2004). Parasitism of eggs of M. cribraria in China was reported to be 22.4–76.9% by Wu et al. (2006),
and 61.4% by Zhang et al. (2003). Studies by Takasu and Hirose (1991a,b) and Takasu et al. (2004)
indicated that O. nezarae requires a sugar source prior to oviposition, prefers to oviposit in eggs previ-
ously parasitized, and is attracted to the aggregation pheromone of Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) [as
R. clavatus (Thunberg)] (Alydidae). Although O. nezarae appears to be an efficient parasitoid, the broad
host range would seem to preclude its use in classical biological control programs.