Laboratory evaluation of Pauesia antennata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), specific parasitoid of Pterochloroides persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract

Pauesia antennata Mukerji (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) as the unique parasitoid of the giant brown peach aphid, Pterochloroides persiace Cholodkovsky (Hemiptera, Aphididae) is considered to be the most effective biological control agent of this pest. In this study, the assessment of selected biological parameters of P. antennata demonstrated that the longevity of mature parasitoid was 3.90 ± 0.22, the developmental time was 14.48 ± 1.05 and the life span was 19.46 ± 0.68 days. The maximum flight activity and oviposition were observed at the second and third days of the parasitoid lifespan. The parasitism, emergence rates and the sex ratio were affected by the variations in the number of P. persicae relative to each population of the parasitoid.

Keywords

• adult longevity
• developmental time
• sex ratio
• host density
• parasitoid density
• tunisia
• biological control