Methodology of mass rearing the egg parasitoid, Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Scelionidae: Hymenoptera), on the plant pest species Euschistus servus (Say) (Pentatomidae: Heteroptera)

Telenomus podisi Ashmead, an egg parasitoid, is most commonly reared on the predator species, Podisus maculiventrus (Say) because of the hosts' relative ease of rearing and availability from commercial vendors.

However, when studying behavioral aspects of T. podisi on a pest host species, it is more realistic to use the eggs of that host. To rear T. podisi on Euschistus servus (Say) we first established a colony of E. servus from field-collected adults, maintained in a growth chamber [24.4°C, 85% R.H., 14:10 (L:D)]. Each shoe box sized plastic container of stink bugs contained a substrate (Viva® scrub cloths) for oviposition, four pre-washed snap bean pods, five raw peanut kernels, and distilled water soaked cotton balls, all replaced twice weekly. Newly laid egg masses were removed daily and stored in a 9-cm diameter Petri dish in the growth chamber.

To initiate the T. podisi colony, E. servus egg masses were pinned to wheat stalks in late May for one weak, then returned to the laboratory and kept in a 3.8-cm diameter Petri dish in a separate growth chamber. Four newly hatched parasitoids were placed in a 3.8-cm diameter Petri dish containing an E. servus egg mass, < 3 d old, with a thin streak of honey on the lid. When eggs turned dark black, signaling parasitization, they were placed into new Petri dishes with honey, and the parasitoids were provided with new E. servus eggs. This rearing method has provided many parasitoids for use in laboratory studies.