Evaluation of Two Methods of Production and Release of the Parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for the Control of Pearl Millet Head Miner Heliocheilus albipunctella (de Joannis) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Maradi (Niger)
Pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum (Leeke) R. Br, is the main cereal crop in Niger. This crop is seriously attacked by the millet Head miner (MHM), Heliocheilus albipunctella (de Joannis) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) causing significant yield losses. This study to optimize biological control of this pest was carried out in Niger in the laboratory and in a farming environment. In the laboratory, the larval paralysis and emergence of the parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were compared between release jute bags, plastic boxes and cardboard boxes. In a farming environment, direct releases were carried out with plastic boxes and releases with jute bags in 12 villages of the Maradi region during the cropping seasons of 2021 and 2022. The results indicated that 25 larvae of Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in the boxes were all paralyzed by 2 females of H. hebetor within 7 hours 30 minutes. The emergence of adults began on the 7th day after the beginning of the experiment for a period of two weeks and three weeks respectively in the boxes and jute bags. The production varied from 107.08 to 110.17 parasitoids and was comparable between the Jute bags, plastic boxes and cardboard boxes. In Farmers’ fields, the parasitoid release with the two methods caused the parasitism rates that varied from 64.32 to 66.52% depending on the year but in 2022 the rate of parasitism was higher in the fields with direct releases using plastic boxes (72.66%) compared to those released with jute bags (56.35%). Plastic boxes and cardboard boxes can be used for the production of the H. hebetor parasitoids. These results can be recommended to the cottage industries in the Sahel in order to improve the production and release methods of H. hebetor and make them more adapted to farmers’ fields.
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