First record of Orsodacne altra (Coleoptera: Orsodacnidae) and Cyrtosus cyanipennis (Coleoptera: Malachiidae) associated to Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) in Morocco

Recently Dactylopius opuntiae Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell, 1896) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) has caused enormous damage in several production areas of cactus in Morocco. The spread of infestation by this scale pest is fast and unpredictable, and consequently, the destruction of large areas planted with cactus in several regions of the Kingdom. In aim to discover natural enemies that have the capacity and potential to be used as mealybug predators, a team of researchers have conducted surveys in cactus production areas. In January 2020 two unidentified Coleoptera species were observed associated to D. opuntiae in an infested cactus crop in El-Gharbia locality. The observed species were identified as Orsodacne altra (Ahrens, 1810) and Cyrtosus cyanipennis (Erichson, 1840). The current study represents the first register of these two genera associated to cactus mealybug in Morocco.