The performance of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Parasitoids Feeding on Honey Sources

Abstract

The effectiveness of parasitoids as organism for biological control is at times limited by food sources. Most of parasitoids rely on carbohydrate foods to enhance their longevity and reproductive capacity. Honey is the miraculous product of honey bees and is naturally delicious. A preliminary study was conducted on the use of different kinds of honey as food sources for the Trichogramma species. The value of honey as a food source for Trichogramma was evaluated by testing the influence of several honey diets on parasitism and longevity in the laboratory. The most commonly available honey is made from a variety of flowers, pine, citrus, chestnut, sunflower, and cotton. Trichogramma females fed on chestnut and sunflower honey parasitized relatively more than when fed on citrus honey. Trichogramma females fed on flower, sunflower, and citrus honey survived drastically longer than females fed on chestnut and pine honey. These results showed that supplying sugar, sunflower, and flower honey to Trichogramma resulted in greater longevity and total fecundity. Overall, feeding Trichogramma females on different kinds of honey had a negligible effect on parasitization but did certainly affect longevity. Of the Trichogramma species evaluated, T. brassicae appears to be the most suitable parasitoids regarding high parasitization and longer life span.

Keywords

• fecundity
• honey
• longevity
• parasitization
• trichogramma