The size and instar of a host may have an effect on the success of parasitism of aphid species by their hymenopteran parasitoids. Such effects may be a result of pre-ovipositional/behavioral factors or post-ovipositional/physiological factors. Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine if host instar plays a role in the success of parasitism of Toxoptera citricida by Lipolexis scutellaris. The information to be gained from conducting these experiments is valuable for a mass-rearing program for this biological control agent, as well as relevant to predicting its success in the field. Three different host instars were independently offered to naïve adult parasitoid females, and the success of parasitism was measured by the percent emerged, rate of development, sex ratio, and size of parasitoid progeny. Subsequent experiments attempted to determine if differences in the rate of parasitism between host instars are a function of pre-ovipositional behavioral interactions between host and parasitoid, or a function of a post-ovipositional physiological immune response in the host.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Aphidiidae Lipolexis scutellaris
Species 2: Homoptera Aphididae Toxoptera citricida
Keywords: biological control
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA