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A cypovirus from the South American oil-palm pest Norape argyrrhorea and its potential as a microbial control agent

Abstract:

Norape argyrrhorea, Hubner (Lep.: Megalopygidae), is becoming the most important defoliator for oil-palm plantations in Peru (South America). Apart from direct damage, feeding of the larvae also causes wounds that provide sites for entry for a complex of phytopathogenic fungi. Chemical control of N. argyrrhorea is costly and results in the parallel reduction of the populations of several predator and parasitoid insect species that previously limited proliferation of this pest. For this reason, alternative control methods are being investigated. A previously undescribed occluded virus has been found responsible for fast and massive mortality among wild populations of the pest. Based on morphology, protein analysis and nucleic acids, this virus named NoarCPV, belongs to the family Reoviridae. Results of the first applications of NoarCPV in an oil-palm plantation demonstrated rapid mortality to population densities below damage thresholds.