NOTES ON MATING BEHAVIOR AND OVIPOSITION OF CHRYSOCHARIS LARICINELLAE (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE), A PARASITE OF THE LARCH CASEBEARER (COLEOPHORA LARICELLA)

Abstract

Chrysocharis laricinellae (Ratz.) mated readily in the laboratory when several individuals of both sexes were held together in a vial. The courtship dance performed by the male is described. Parasite females develop mature eggs 3 days after emergence and are apparently capable of resorbing the eggs if hosts are not available, and to produce new ones after host-feeding. Storage of eggs in the ovary for 5 months at 55°F and sterility (phasic castration) of certain individuals is reported. Longevity of egg-laying females at 75°F was about 1 month less than that of parasites that had been denied contact with hosts. Odor apparently plays little or no role in the location of the larch casebearer larvae by C. laricinellae, but chemical surface stimuli seem to exist on the surface of a mine or case of Coleophora laricella (Hbn.). The parasite is also stimulated by vibrations of the host in its case. The oviposition and host-feeding pattern of C. laricinellae is described. Host-feeding on fourth-instar larvae of the larch casebearer contributed little to host mortality.

Biochemical Coevolution between Parasitoids and their Hosts

“…Corbet (1971) reported an epideictic (dispersing) pheromone from the mandibular glands of Anagasta kuehnieZZa, (Zeller), the flower moth, which would elicit ovipositional movements in V. aanesaens. Other workers have observed activity in the frass of hosts (Hendry et al 1973, Quednau 1967, Quednau and Hubsch 1964, although the sources have not been determined.…”

Efeito de diferentes fontes de carboidrato e da privação de alimento sobre aspectos biológicos de Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae)

“…Para Chrysocharis laricinellae Ratzeburg (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) (Quednau 1967) e Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) (Riddick 2007) foi demonstrado que muitas vezes a maturidade sexual está associada à necessidade de ingestão de alimentos ricos em açúcares e aminoácidos, pois fêmeas destes parasitóides alimentadas apresentaram mais óvulos maduros em menos tempo. Contudo, T. remus não mostrou-se dependente de alimentos para a maturidade sexual, pois mesmo fêmeas não alimentadas, apesar de sobreviverem por apenas um dia, ovipositaram e produziram descendentes (Tabela I e Figura 1).…”

“…Há casos em que o amadurecimento de ovos da fêmea é dependente deste recurso (Quednau 1967;Olson & Andow 1998;Riddick 2007). Garcia (1991) relatou que néctar e pólen representam, em muitos casos, as principais fontes de nutrientes exigidos pela fêmea; assim como excretas de alguns hemípteros (honeydew) que também pode representar uma forma de alimento para adultos de parasitóides (Lee et al 2004).…”

Unusual Life History Characteristics of <I>Elachertus scutellatus</I> Howard (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a Koinobionic Ectoparasitoid

“…The females that did not lay eggs, however, may have been unhealthy, accounting for both the lack of oviposition and short life span. It is unlikely that the short-lived females were sterile but otherwise healthy, because sterile females of the eulophid Chrysocharis laricinellae have been shown to live Ϸ1 mo longer than egg-laying females (Quednau 1967), due likely to the absence of an energetically expensive reproductive cost.…”