Effect of fertilized, unfertilized, and UV-irradiated hosts on parasitism and suitability for Trichogramma parasitoids

Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitoids have been commonly used as biological control agents in insect pest management. Host quality is believed to influence parasitism, host preference, and suitability for parasitoids. To date, limited studies have compared the parasitism of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Entomologia experimentalis et applicata 2016-10, Vol.161 (1), p.50-56
Main Authors: Xu, Jing, Yang, Xiangbing, Lin, Ying, Zang, Lian-Sheng, Tian, Chun-Yu, Ruan, Chang-Chun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biological control
Corcyra cephalonica
egg parasitoids
fertilized eggs
host quality
Hymenoptera
Lepidoptera
Pyralidae
rice moth
Trichogramma
Trichogramma chilonis
Trichogramma japonicum
Trichogrammatidae
UV-irradiation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitoids have been commonly used as biological control agents in insect pest management. Host quality is believed to influence parasitism, host preference, and suitability for parasitoids. To date, limited studies have compared the parasitism of Trichogramma parasitoids on fertilized, unfertilized, and sterilized host eggs. Hence, we studied the performance of three Trichogramma egg parasitoids, Trichogramma japonicum Ashmead, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, and Trichogramma leucaniae Pang & Chen, on fertilized, unfertilized, and ultraviolet (UV)‐irradiated fertilized (UVF) eggs of rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). In a no‐choice test, T. japonicum and T. leucaniae parasitized significantly more fertilized or UVF than unfertilized hosts, and T. chilonis parasitized significantly more UVF than either fertilized or unfertilized hosts. In a choice test, all three Trichogramma parasitoids parasitized UVF hosts the most, and unfertilized hosts the least. There were similar percentages of adult emergence and female progeny among fertilized, unfertilized, and UVF hosts for all three Trichogramma parasitoids, except that T. japonicum had significantly lower adult emergence on fertilized hosts. We also found that all three Trichogramma parasitoids developed slower on unfertilized hosts. Regardless of host treatments, T. leucaniae had the longest developmental time and T. chilonis had the shortest. We conclude that Trichogramma parasitoids prefer parasitizing UVF eggs of C. cephalonica without negative effects on their emergence and sex allocation.
ISSN:0013-8703
1570-7458
DOI:10.1111/eea.12485