Use of Low Temperature Storage to Preserve Host and Parasitoid to Improve the Rearing of Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) on Euschistus heros (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Eggs

Abstract

Successful parasitoid rearing is crucial for augmentative biological control. A low temperature preservation protocol allowing the availability of host and parasitoid year-round was evaluated in this study in four bioassays: (1) host eggs [Euschistus heros (Fabricius)] stored at - 196, - 80, and - 20°C for up to 70 days prior to exposure to Telenomus podisi Ashmead parasitism; (2) Euschistus heros eggs removed from storage at - 196°C after 70 days and kept at 5°C for up to 9 days prior to exposure to T. podisi parasitism; (3) Telenomus podisi adult emergence of insects stored as pupae at 5°C; and (4) fitness of adults of T. podisi stored at 5°C. Higher parasitism was observed in parasitoids reared on E. heros eggs stored at - 196 and - 80°C. Host eggs removed from - 196°C and stored at 5°C for up to 6 days did not impact T. podisi parasitism and development. Storage of T. podisi pupae for more than 7 days negatively affected parasitoid biology. Storing T. podisi adults at 5°C for up to 6 days does not alter the biological parameters of the parasitoid. Thus, parasitoids can be stored as pupae or adults as well as its host E. heros eggs. Our findings can be applied to improve the feasibility of year-round insect production.

Cold storage of Spodoptera litura eggs and Telenomus remus adults for improving mass‐rearing efficiency

“…Gautam (1986) Apart from the parasitism rate, the offspring emergence rate and percentage of females are two vital parameters for evaluating the fitness of parasitoids in a mass-rearing system (Wu et al, 2018). In augmentative biological control, a larger percentage of females are considered more conducive to the success of the programme because males do not directly suppress the target pest populations (Queiroz et al, 2017b;Silva et al, 2019). In this study, there were some slight fluctuations of these two indicators in some treatments due to too few parasitized eggs available, resulted in low sample sizes for emerged progeny.…”

Optimizing Mass Rearing of the Egg Parasitoid, Telenomus podisi, for Control of the Brown Stink Bug, Euschistus heros

“…However, the production of T. podisi requires substantial labor since the shelf life of natural enemies is low. An additional challenge is that, in most cases, the parasitoids are used at specific times of the year, depending on the planting cycle of each crop [ 11 , 12 ]. Large-scale insect rearing aims to reduce costs and increase production without reducing parasitoid quality [ 13 , 14 ].…”

“…Large-scale insect rearing aims to reduce costs and increase production without reducing parasitoid quality [ 13 , 14 ]. Currently, techniques using artificial diets [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] and storage of host eggs at low temperatures [ 11 , 18 , 19 ] help in reducing rearing costs. Parasitoids also require hosts eggs with good quality and sufficient nutritional value [ 20 ].…”

Biological control of invasive stink bugs: review of global state and future prospects

“…5 000 individuals ha À1 ) is necessary (Corrêa-Ferreira, 2002), requiring the rearing not only of many wasps but also their host. Mass rearing systems for stink bugs, including the use of artificial diets, have improved parasitoid production (Silva et al, 2008(Silva et al, , 2018Mendoza et al, 2016;Hayashida et al, 2018). This rearing system, together with new technologiessuch as the preservation of host eggs and parasitoids at low temperatures until field release (Silva et al, 2018), protection of parasitized eggs in cardboard capsules, drone-based deployment systems, and accurate spatio-temporal field releasescould favour biocontrol programs in the near future.…”

“…Mass rearing systems for stink bugs, including the use of artificial diets, have improved parasitoid production (Silva et al, 2008(Silva et al, , 2018Mendoza et al, 2016;Hayashida et al, 2018). This rearing system, together with new technologiessuch as the preservation of host eggs and parasitoids at low temperatures until field release (Silva et al, 2018), protection of parasitized eggs in cardboard capsules, drone-based deployment systems, and accurate spatio-temporal field releasescould favour biocontrol programs in the near future. The high susceptibility of egg parasitoids to insecticides (Corrêa-Ferreira et al, 2010) is also important, so the identification and use of selective products are critical for successful inundative biocontrol strategies (Stecca et al, 2017).…”