Evaluation of alternate host and carbohydrate sources for mass rearing the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)

A biological control program using the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus is being implemented in Brazil for Spodoptera species in cotton and maize. However, mass rearing procedures for Spodoptera is labor intensive and costly. Thus, finding an alternate hosts and evaluating carbohydrate sources for the parasitoid were the main objectives of this work. Noctuidae (S. frugiperda, S. cosmioides, S. albula, Heliothis virescens, Helicoverpa zea), Pyralidae (Anagasta kuehniella), and Gelechiidae (Sitotroga cerealella) species were evaluated. T. remus parasitized only the Noctuidae species but preferred Spodoptera species the most. For adult food supply, five carbohydrate sources, water and no food (starvation) were evaluated on biological characteristics of T. remus. Females fed on honey and glucose, fructose, and sucrose solutions were similarly more efficient whereas non-fed females and females fed only on water showed low levels of parasitism. Also, females fed on any carbohydrate source lived longer. Therefore, we concluded that Spodoptera species are still the best hosts and honey, glucose, fructose, and sucrose are adequate food sources for T. remus.