Strepsipteran Parasitism of White Leafhoppers, \u3ci\u3eCofana\u3c/i\u3e spp. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in Lowland Rice in Côte d’Ivoire

Three tests were conducted over a 2-year period in lowland irrigated rice fields on the WARDA Research Station at Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, to obtain information on the strepsipteran parasitism of white leafhoppers, Cofana spectra and C. unimaculata. Rice cultivars were sampled with a sweep net to collect leafhoppers for determination of the relative abundance of the two leafhopper species and the effect of rice cultivar and rice crop age on the leafhopper populations and percent strepsipteran parasitism. Dissections of the leafhoppers were made to determine the relative number of the various parasitic stages in the leafhoppers. Cofana unimaculata populations were higher than those of C. spectra while C. spectra parasitism by Halictophagus australensis Perkins (Strepsiptera: Halictophagidae) was higher than that of C. unimaculata. In two tests, there was a relationship between length of rice cultivar duration and C. unimaculata populations with populations being highest on the short duration cultivars. On most cultivars there was no correlation between Cofana populations and percentage parasitism, nor was there a relationship between cultivar growth duration and percent parasitism. The number of the various stages of the parasite was similar in both Cofana species with the male pupal parasitic stage being most common