Natural enemies of sorghum shoot fly, Atherigona soccata Rondani (Diptera: Muscidae)

The sorghum shoot fly, Atherigona soccata is one of the most important pests of grain sorghum in Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Europe. This paper reviews the current state of information on diversity, ecobiology, parasitism levels, and mass rearing of the parasitoids, predators and pathogens attacking different stages of Atherigona soccata. Among the parasitoids, Trichogramma chilonis and Trichogrammatoidea simmondsi on the eggs, and Neotrichoporoides nyemitawus on the larvae are most important. Although 15 species of predators have been recorded, their predation potential has not been assessed under field conditions. Several species of spiders are important predators on eggs. The ecobiology of Trichogramma chilonis, Trichogrammatoidea simmondsi, N. nyemitawus, Spalangia endius, and Trichopria sp. has been studied in considerable detail. The parasitism levels are quite high during the post-rainy season by Aprostocetus sp., N. nyemitawus, Opius sp. and S. endius. Augmenting populations of Trichogramma chilonis does not reduce the shoot fly infestation under field conditions. Parasitism by N. nyemitawus is greater in sorghum-cowpea intercrop than where sorghum is the sole crop. Mass rearing techniques are available only for Trichogramma chilonis and Trichogrammatoidea bactrae. The constraints and challenges for utilizing the natural enemies in integrated pest management have been discussed