Parasitism of Lepidopteran Defoliators of Urban Plants by<i>Palmistichus elaeisis</i>(Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

All holometabolous insects undergo a pupal life stage, a transformative period during which the insects are immobile and thus particularly vulnerable to both natural enemies and harmful abiotic conditions. For multivoltine species like the silver-spotted skipper [Epargyreus clarus (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)], which produces both diapausing and nondiapausing generations throughout much of its range, both the duration of the pupal stage and the ecological challenges faced by pupae can differ among generations. We conducted a set of field experiments to investigate the seasonal and annual variation in pupal mortality for E. clarus pupae experiencing different biotic and abiotic conditions. We also examined the behavioral and ecological factors influencing the construction and persistence of pupal shelters by prepupal larvae. Surprisingly, measures of both cumulative and daily pupal predation were significantly higher during the relatively short (10–14 d) nondiapausing (summer) generations, compared with the diapausing (winter) generations, despite a nearly 20-fold longer pupal duration recorded for the latter. Indirect evidence from field censuses suggested that this intergenerational difference in mortality was due to seasonal variation in consumption of pupae by generalist vertebrate predators. The presence of a shelter increased survival in summer, though not in winter, perhaps because winter pupae were likely to be buried under autumnal leaf litter, regardless of initial shelter status. When constructing their shelters, prepupal E. clarus larvae did not prefer host leaves over nonhost leaves, suggesting that induced preferences are unlikely to play an important role in this process. Despite finding marked differences in the decomposition rates of shelter leaves derived from host vs. nonhost plants, several lines of evidence suggest that these differences are unlikely to impact E. clarus pupal mortality during either the summer or winter generations.

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Ecological Predictors of Pupal Survival in a Common North American Butterfly

Brackley

Lill

Weiss

2022

Environmental Entomology

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Toxicity of Essential Oils to Diaphania hyalinata (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and Selectivity to Its Parasitoid Trichospilus pupivorus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Silva

Soares

Tavares³

et al. 2020

Journal of Economic Entomology

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Diaphania hyalinata (Linnaeus, 1767) is one of the main pests of the cucurbit crops. Biological control and botanicals are used in integrated pest management (IPM), especially in agro-ecological agricultures where the use of synthetic pesticides is restricted. Toxicological effects of plant essential oils on target and nontarget organisms should be evaluated to determine its use in IPM. The toxicity of ginger, peppermint, oregano, and thyme essential oils to D. hyalinata eggs, larvae, and pupae and their selectivity to the parasitoid Trichospilus pupivorus and the LC50, LC99 and the relative selectivity index (RSI) of these botanicals were determined. The eggs of D. hyalinata were more sensitive to the botanicals applied than its larvae and pupae, with higher toxicity of oregano and thyme essential oils, followed by those of peppermint and ginger. Topical application was the least toxic method to D. hyalinata larvae. Ginger, peppermint, and thyme essential oils were more toxic by ingestion and oregano by contact to D. hyalinata larvae. The essential oil concentrations applied to D. hyalinata pupae prevent the emergence of adults of this insect with the oregano essential oil showing the greatest toxicity. Peppermint, ginger, thyme, and oregano essential oils were selective to T. pupivorus with RSI50 of 5.40, 1.38, 8.15, and 6.98 and RSI99 of 1.54, 2.53, 3.90, and 4.16 respectively. The ginger, peppermint, oregano, and thyme essential oils were toxic to immature D. hyalinata and selective to T. pupivorus females presenting potential as an alternative control in the IPM of this pest in Cucurbitaceae crops.

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Spodoptera cosmioides (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as an alternative host for mass rearing the parasitoid Palmistichus elaeisis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Faustino Júnior,

Vieira de Moraes,

Henrique Vieira Araújo

et al. 2024

Florida Entomologist

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Different alternative hosts can reduce or even avoid pre-imaginal conditioning of parasitoids in mass production programs. Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) may be an alternative host for mass rearing the parasitoid Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). The objective of this study was to evaluate the parasitism, emergence, egg-to-adult period, progeny size, sex ratio, and consumption of host tissue per individual of P. elaeisis produced using S. cosmioides pupae in the laboratory. Newly formed S. cosmioides pupae were weighed, individualized in glass tubes and each one was exposed to six newly emerged P. elaeisis females during 48 h. These pupae were transferred to plastic pots until the emergence of P. elaeisis adults. Palmistichus elaeisis parasitized and emerged from 100.0 % and 87.5 % of the S. cosmioides pupae, respectively. The egg-to-adult period of P. elaeisis was 24.28 ± 0.18 days, with 109 ± 2 individuals emerging per host pupae. Mass consumption of the host was 2.56 ± 0.01 mg per parasitoid emerged. This is the first report of P. elaeisis parasitizing and developing in S. cosmioides pupae. The ease of rearing S. cosmioides with an artificial diet, and the high parasitism, emergence, and progeny size of P. elaeisis support the suitability of this alternative host to mass-rearing this parasitoid.

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Parasitism of Lepidopteran Defoliators of Urban Plants byPalmistichus elaeisis(Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

Ecological Predictors of Pupal Survival in a Common North American Butterfly

Ecological Predictors of Pupal Survival in a Common North American Butterfly

Toxicity of Essential Oils to Diaphania hyalinata (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and Selectivity to Its Parasitoid Trichospilus pupivorus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Spodoptera cosmioides (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as an alternative host for mass rearing the parasitoid Palmistichus elaeisis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

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