Inoculative releases of T. ostriniae, originally from northeast China, were evaluated for the suppression of O. nubilalis in sweet corn. Early season, low-density (30,000 females per acre) releases resulted in season-long establishment of the wasps, and high levels of parasitism of O. nubilalis egg masses. The wasps were able to disperse repidly in fields of sweet corn. A model accounting for egg mortality due to parasitism was developed, allowing field estimates of parasitism to be made, and action thresholds adjusted accordingly.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae Trichogramma ostriniae
Species 2: Lepidoptera Crambidae Ostrinia nubilalis (European corn borer)
Keywords: early-season release
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA