Effects of host pupal age on host preference and host suitability in Brachymeria lasus(Walker)(Hymenoptera: Chalcididae).

Abstract

The influence of host pupal age on host preference and host suitability in Brachymeria lasus (Walker) was examined. Rice armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walker), pupae of different ages, i.e., 0-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 and 8-9 d old were used as hosts. The females accepted the host pupae equally for oviposition among 5 age groups, suggesting that female B. lasus does not discriminate hosts of different ages. However, the rate of progeny emergence was lower in old (6 to 9 d old) hosts. The adult parasitoid progeny produced from young (0 to 5 d old) hosts were heavier in body weight than those from old hosts. The developmental time of the immature stages of progeny was not significantly affected by host pupal age. Adult progeny with heavier body weight emerged earlier than lighter ones when reared on 0-to 5-d-old hosts. However, there was no correlation between the progeny body weight and developmental time of the immature stages when reared on 6-to 9-d-old hosts. Most of the progeny were females and no effect of host age was found on progeny sex ratio, which may be due to the low oviposition rate they experienced.

Unexpected Use of Pupal Stage of a Lepidopteran Host by the Ectoparasitoid Wasp Agrothereutes lanceolatus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

“…For a number of pupal endoparasitoid wasps of Lepidoptera, the age at which the host pupa has been parasitized influences offspring survival and performance [14,[27][28][29]. Likewise, the present study has provided evidence that host pupal age affects the offspring survival and performance of ectoparasitic A. lanceolatus.…”

“…These results suggest that host suitability is higher in younger host pupae. The majority of available literatures show similar results [14,[29][30][31][32]; a decrease of host suitability with pupal age appears to be the general rule.…”

Influence of host size on the clutch size and developmental success of the gregarious ectoparasitoid Eulophus pennicornis (Nees)(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attacking larvae of the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…This is an important consideration, especially since many parasitoids actively manipulate the physiological status of the host in order to facilitate the successful development of their progeny (see reviews by Edwards et al, 2001;Beckage and Gelman, 2004). Frequently, the success of such manipulation can be affected by the host's physiological status at the time of parasitism and, ultimately, the overall quality of the host can be seen to be a function of several factors, and not necessarily just one of increasing host size (Vinson and Iwantsch, 1980a;Rivers and Denlinger, 1995;Alleyne and Beckage, 1997;Husni and Honda, 2001).…”

Comparative Evaluation of Spinosad and Phloxine B as Toxicants in Protein Baits for Suppression of Three Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Species

“…Downloaded From: https://bioone.org/journals/Florida-Entomologist on 27 Apr 2019 Terms of Use: https://bioone.org/terms-of-use mine host quality during oviposition (Husni et al 2001;Wang & Liu 2002;Chinwada et al 2003;Li et al 2006;Roriz et al 2006). Younger host pupae generally offer nutrition of higher quality for subsequent development, so they are usually preferred for oviposition by parasitoids (Takagi 1986;Oloo 1992;Ueno 1997;Husni et al 2001).…”

“…Younger host pupae generally offer nutrition of higher quality for subsequent development, so they are usually preferred for oviposition by parasitoids (Takagi 1986;Oloo 1992;Ueno 1997;Husni et al 2001). However, some parasitoids prefer host pupae of medium age for their development (Pfannenstiel et al 1996;Colinet et al 2005).…”