Impact of Some Gamma-Irradiated Hosts on Bracon Brevicornis Wesmael Parasitism and Production

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how irradiated hosts affected the mass rearing of the ectoparasitoid Bracon brevicornis Wesmael. To investigate the development of B. brevicornis stages on three hosts; full-grown larvae of Pectinophora gossypiella, Galleria mellonella, and Spodoptera litoralis were irradiated with 100, 200, and 300 Gy. The use of 100Gy in irradiating P. gossypiella and G. mellonella produced utilization in promoting parasitism and adult emergence of B. brevicornis, with parasitism percentages of 77.00% and 80.00% for P. gossypiella and G. mellonella, respectively, when compared to control larvae or other irradiated doses. The results of the biochemical experiments showed that G. mellonella > P. gossypiella > S. littoralis was the order of the insects in terms of total protein, lipids, and glucose. It could be concluded that using 100Gy irradiated P. gossypiella and G. mellonella larvae would aid in improving B. brevicornis mass production and the effectiveness of B. brevicornis.