A field experiment was conducted during 2005 and 2006, to investigate sugarcane borer larval development duration and survival, each as affected by three rice cultivars (Cocodrie, Francis and Jefferson) and three crop growth stages (the 3^rd tiller stage, the panicle differentiation stage, and the heading stage. The sugarcane borer larval development duration in rice was shorter at heading (514.4 ± 89.0 DD) than either at the 3^rd tiller stage (591.0± 49.4 DD) and at panicle differentiation (608.3 ± 73.0 DD). The survival rate of sugarcane borer larvae was higher when infested at the 3^rd tiller stage (0.160), than either at panicle differentiation (0.051) or at heading (0.056).

Cotesia flavipes adults were released into field cages enclosing sugarcane borer infested rice plots, to investigate parasitization of sugarcane borer by C. flavipes, C. flavipes fecundity, and sex ratio. The C. flavipes release densities was 8 females per m² in 2005 and 40 females per m² in 2006.The parasitization rate were the highest at the 3^rd tiller stage (8.2% in 2005, 17.6% in 2006), followed by the panicle differentiation stage (6.1%, 8.7%) and the heading stage (1.7%, 3.9%). The effective search rate of was 0.0018 m² ground area per day per parasitoid. The number of C. flavipes progeny produced per parasitized larvae was 27.9 ± 19.1, with a 3.5 :1 female/male sex ratio.

A cohort based age structured model was developed to determine the rates and timings of releases of C. flavipes required to provide economic control of the sugarcane borer.