To enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies within diversified vegetable systems, the influence of host and plant food resources on the dispersal behavior of the host specific parasitoid, Diadegma insulare(Cresson) were investigated in greenhouse and field studies. Under greenhouse conditions, a choice test was conducted in which parasitoids could choose between high and low densities of Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella(L.) and floral resources of coriander. Parasitoid dispersal rate, retention time, and parasitism rate were measured. Field plots of collards and collards intercropped with coriander were established within diversified vegetable cropping landscapes. Host densities and flower availability were manipulated. Parasitism rates and residence times were compared between treatments. These results are discussed in relation to factors regulating dispersal of D. insulare and the potential of manipulating cultivations of coriander to improve the persistence of these parasitoids within diversified vegetable landscapes.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae Diadegma insulare
Keywords: dispersal behavior, host and plant resources
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, Ca2, Biological Control, Ce, Insect Pathology and Microbial Control, and Cf1, Quantitative Ecology
Back to Student Competition TMP Orals
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition