02162naa a2200217 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400350006010000310009524501390012626000090026552014690027465000230174365000190176665000260178565000350181165000120184670000200185870000200187877300460189818978112018-04-17       2011    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 a10.1017/S00074853110002892DOI1 aBUENO, R. C. O. de FREITAS  aTrichogramma pretiosum parasitism and dispersal capacityba basis for developing biological control programs for soybean caterpillars.  c2011  aIn order to succeed in biological control programs, not only is it crucial to understand the number of natural enemies to be released but also on how many sites per area this releasing must be performed. These variables might differ deeply among egg parasitoid species and crops worked. Therefore, these trials were carried out to evaluate the parasitism (%) in eggs of Anticarsia gemmatalis and Pseudoplusia includens after the release of different densities of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum. Field dispersal was also studied, in order to determine appropriate recommendations for the release of this parasitoid in soybean fields. The regression analysis between parasitism (%) and densities of the parasitoid indicated a quadratic effect for both A. gemmatalis and P. includens. The maximum parasitism within 24h after the release was reached with densities of 25.6 and 51.2 parasitoids per host egg, respectively, for the two pests. Parasitism of T. pretiosum in eggs of P. includens decreased linearly as the distance of the pest eggs from the parasitoid release sites increased. For P. includens, the mean radius of T. pretiosum action and the area of parasitoid dispersal in the soybean crop were 8.01m and 85.18m2, respectively. We conclude that for a successful biological control program of lepidopteran pests using T. pretiosum in soybean fields, a density of 25.6 parasitoids per host egg, divided into 117 sites per hectare, should be used.  aBiological control  aInsect control  aAnticarsia gemmatalis  aInseto para controle biologico  aLagarta1 aPARRA, J. R. P.1 aBUENO, A. de F.  tBulletin of Entomological Research, 2011.