Diversifying agroecosystems with floral vegetation provides parasitoids with a sugar source. Numerous laboratory and field cage studies indicate that parasitoids given access to floral nectar have greater longevity and fecundity. However, demonstrating that parasitoids in the field are in fact utilizing the nectar source and are longer lived and more fecund is difficult. Our objective is to compare sugar feeding, longevity and ovipositional activity of parasitic wasps in cabbage fields with and without buckwheat flowers. By using laboratory gut assays, we will determine whether field-collected wasps have fed on sugars. We will use an age grading method based on broken wing hairs and egg maturation schedule to assess the ages and the amount of eggs laid by field wasps. We hypothesize that the presence of floral nectar will increase the incidence of sugar-fed wasps and correspondingly increase the average age and fecundity of wasps.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae Diadegma insulare
Keywords: floral nectar, fecundity
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