ARTÍCULO DE INVESTIGACIÓN ORIGINAL

FIRST RECORD OF Paraproba crotonica CARVALHO (HEMIPTERA:

MIRIDAE) FEEDING ON THE GREENHOUSE WHITEFLY

J. Refugio Lomeli-Flores1*, Esteban Rodríguez-Leyva1, Alfonso Torres-Ruiz2,

Jorge Manuel Valdez-Carrasco1

Colegio de Postgraduados, Posgrado en Fitosanidad, Entomología y Acarología, Montecillo, CP 56230

Texcoco, Estado de México, México1. Koppert México, Circuito El Marqués 82, Parque Industrial El

Marqués. CP 76246 El Marqués, Querétaro, México2.

jrlomelif@hotmail.com1

esteban@colpos.mx2

jvaldez@colpos.mx3

atorres@koppert.com.mx 4

jrlomelif@hotmail.com

Carr. México-Texcoco km 36.5, 56230, Montecillo, Estado de México,

México. Folia Entomológica Mexicana (nueva serie), 2025, 11: e20251104.

Recibido: 20/12/2024

Aceptado: 18/03/2025

Publicado en línea: 04/04/2025

Folia Entomológica Mexicana (nueva serie), 2025, 11: e20251104

e-ISSN: 2448-4776

https://doi/10.53749/fem2025.11.04

Artículo de Investigación Original

PRIMER REGISTRO DE Paraproba crotonica CARVALHO (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE)

ALIMENTÁNDOSE DE MOSQUITA BLANCA DE LOS INVERNADEROS

FIRST RECORD OF Paraproba crotonica CARVALHO (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE) FEEDING

ON THE GREENHOUSE WHITEFLY

J. Refugio Lomeli-Flores1* , Esteban Rodríguez-Leyva1, Alfonso Torres-Ruiz2, Jorge Manuel

Valdez-Carrasco1

Colegio de Postgraduados, Posgrado en Fitosanidad, Entomología y Acarología, Montecillo, CP 56230

Texcoco, Estado de México, México1. Koppert México, Circuito El Marqués 82, Parque Industrial El

Marqués. CP 76246 El Marqués, Querétaro, México2.

*Autor de correspondencia: jrlomelif@hotmail.com

Recibido: 20/12/2024

Aceptado: 18/03/2025

Publicado en línea: 04/04/2025

Editor Asociado: Guadalupe del Carmen Reyes Solís

ABSTRACT. The mirid Paraproba crotonica Carvalho was previously known from Costa Rica,

Honduras, and Mexico (Durango and Chiapas). While surveying backyards in Mexico City some

specimens were found feeding on the greenhouse whitefly which was established on the plant

Brugmansia arborea. This is the first record of P. crotonica in Mexico City; it is also a new record

of both its prey and host plant.

Key words: Trialeurodes vaporariorum, biological control, zoophytophagous predators,

Brugmansia arborea.

RESUMEN. El mírido Paraproba crotonica Carvalho se registra de Costa Rica, Honduras, y México

(Durango y Chiapas). En este trabajo se recolectaron especímenes depredando sobre Trialeurodes

vaporariorum en Brugmansia arborea, una planta de ornato común en jardines de la Ciudad de

México. Este representa el primer reporte de P. crotonica en la Ciudad de México y también el

primer registro como depredador de la mosquita blanca de los invernaderos sobre B. arborea.

Palabras clave: Trialeurodes vaporariorum, biological control, zoophytophagous predators,

Brugmansia arborea.

INTRODUCTION

Miridae is a large and diverse group of insects that

includes important pest crops; nevertheless, there

are some species that prey on insect pests. The

feeding behavior of those mirid species is better

coined as zoophytophagous (Castañé et al., 2011;

Cassis and Schuh, 2012; Rodríguez-Leyva et al.,

2020). The effective preying of many mirids on

LOMELI-FLORES ET AL. FIRST RECORD OF Paraproba crotonica FEEDING ON WHITEFLY

insect pests, and feeding only on foliage if the

prey is not present, enables as potential biological

control agents (Calvo et al., 2012). This scenario

has been studied and commercially applied in

Europe, where important IPM programs on

tomato greenhouses are based on the introduction

of generalist mirid predators; particularly on

Nesidiocoris tenuis Rambur and Macrolophus

pygmaeus Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae), due to

its effectiveness against whitefly and the invasive

pest Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera:

Gelechiidae) (Calvo et al., 2012; Urbaneja et al.,

2012). In the American continent, the only

examples of predatory mirids on protected crops

are in Canada and Mexico, where Dicyphus

hesperus Knight has been released experimentally

(McGregor et al., 1999; Gillespie et al., 2007;

Calvo et al., 2016, 2018) and used commercially

on a few greenhouses on the Easter area of Canada

(Gillespie et al., 2007). There has recently been an

increasing research interest on native American

mirids to evaluate them as natural enemies of

greenhouse pests in Brazil (Bueno et al., 2018;

van Lenteren et al., 2018) and Mexico (Calvo et

al., 2016, 2018; Ramírez-Ahuja et al., 2017;

Pineda et al., 2020), meaning many species need

to be characterized.

At the biological control laboratory of Colegio de

Postgraduados, in Texcoco, Estado de Mexico,

there is a project searching for native natural

enemies of important agricultural pests

(Rodríguez-Leyva et al., 2012; Calvo et al., 2016;

2018; Ramírez-Ahuja et al. 2017). While

searching for natural enemies of the whitefly,

Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood)

(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), some mirids and other

predators were found feeding on the pest on the

ornamental bush Brugmansia arborea (L.)

Lagerheim [= Datura arborea (Solanales:

Solanaceae)] in some places of Mexico City

(19°23'06.5"N; 99°06'13.8"O). To know the

taxonomic identity of these species, the present

study was developed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Adults and immatures of predatory insects and

whiteflies were collected on April 30, May 28 and

June 17 of 2013, on an urban spot of 20 B. arborea

bushes in two backyards at Iztacalco, Mexico City

(19°23'06.5"N; 99°06'13.8"O). All bushes were

highly infested with eggs, nymphs, and adults of

whitefly. Some mirid adults were collected in

ethanol 80% and live nymphs of the whitefly and

predatory insects, including mirids, present at the

same dates were collected in a plastic container

with some leaves of the same plant. Mirid

specimens were sent to Michael D. Schwartz to

identify them at Agriculture and Agri-Food

Canada Environmental Health, Ottawa, Ontario,

Canada. Laura D. Ortega Arenas identified the

whitefly nymphs at Colegio de Postgraduados in

Texcoco, Mexico. Voucher specimens are

deposited on the specialist collections, with a

duplicate kept in the Insect Biological Control

collection of the Colegio de Postgraduados

(Voucher number CEAM-He-001).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A total of 48 mirids were collected (25 adults and

23 nymphs) and identified as Paraproba

crotonica Carvalho (Fig. 1). Phytophagous T.

vaporariorum was identified as a unique prey.

Other predators were found on the same plant,

some ladybugs (Delphastus sp.) and lacewings

(Chrysopidae), but P. crotonica was the most

abundant in all surveys. To be certain that P.

crotonica was preying on whiteflies, 10 mirid

nymphs were confined in Petri dishes with

whitefly nymphs on B. arborea leaves until the

adult stage emerged. In all cases, it was possible

to obtain adults.

The Paraproba genus includes 26 valid species of

which only eight were reported for Mexico

(Carvalho, 1987). Paraproba crotonica was

described by Carvalho (1987) from specimens

collected on Croton gossypiifolius Vahl

(Euphorbiales: Euphorbiaceae) from Costa Rica

in 1935. They have also been collected from

Honduras, and the Mexican states of Durango and

Chiapas (Schuh, 2013; Discoverlife, 2021). We

consider this as the first record of the species

feeding on the greenhouse whitefly on B. arborea

in Central Mexico.

Folia Entomológica Mexicana (nueva serie), 2025, 11: e20251104

e-ISSN: 2448-4776

https://doi/10.53749/fem2025.11.04

Figure 1. Paraproba crotonica Carvalho Female dorsal (A) and ventral view (B); Male dorsal (C) and

ventral (D) view.

As mentioned before, there was no systematic

evaluation of the population density of whitefly

and mirids. However, when checking B. arborea

bushes on the sampling dates and on July 30, of

the same year, they showed an imperceptible level

of whitefly, while P. crotonica and Delphastus sp.

were still present. By the end of October 2013, the

whitefly population was not perceptible on the

LOMELI-FLORES ET AL. FIRST RECORD OF Paraproba crotonica FEEDING ON WHITEFLY

leaves, but P. crotonica stayed on the plant.

During 2014, the whitefly was present, but its

population did not build up as much as 2013, and

P. crotonica still was established on them. One of

the important intentions of this study was to

document the natural distribution of native

species and to inform of its feeding behavior.

Additionally, this information might be useful to

suggest that P. crotonica should be studied to

determine its biology and potential as a biological

control agent of the greenhouse whitefly on crops

such as tomato, eggplant, or peppers on

greenhouse conditions.

CONCLUSION

Paraproba crotonica was a common

zoophytophagous mirid preying on T.

vaporariorum in Central Mexico. Their

populations were high on an ornamental

solanaceous bush, and it was collected from April

to October. Although indirect evidence indicates

that it can reduce whitefly populations in

ornamental plants, further studies are required to

determine its true potential as a biological control

agent.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Michael D. Schwartz (Agriculture and

Agri-Food Canada Environmental Health,

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Laura D. Ortega

Arenas (Colegio de Postgraduados, Texcoco,

Estado de México), for their kind attention and for

identifying the specimens of the insects. Thanks

to Elena Lomeli-Vera for improving an earlier

version of this manuscript. This study was part of

the project INNOVAPYME-CONACYT 218696

allotted to Koppert Mexico S.A. de C.V.

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