Reproductive development and biological control potential of Trathala flavoorbitalis Cameron (Hymenoptera:Ichneumonidae) on eggplant fruit and shoot borer, Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee (Lepidoptera:Pyralidae)
2015
Laquinta, J.F. | Galicia, G.L. | Javier, P.A.
Trathala flavoorbitalis Cameron (Hymenoptera:Echneumonidae), is a larval parasitoid of eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB), Leucinodes orbanalis Guenee with 22% natural parasitization under farmers' fields in the Philippines. T. flavoorbitalis is one of the most interesting parasitoids of EFSB because previous collections revealed that the adults are all female and not a single male was encountered. T. flavoorbitalis is uniparental, wherein females produce female progeny hence the parasitoid is parthenogenetically thelytokous. Since males are not necessary for reproduction, the parasitism rate could be dependent on the nutritional status of the female and availability of suitable hosts. The rate of egg maturation of adult of T. flavoorbitalis was determined by dissecting the female wasp and the number of mature ovarian eggs were counted. Examination of female ovary was done at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 days after adult emergence with honey as food. The average number of mature eggs at 1, 2 and 3 - day old parasitoids were 35.8, 65.3 and 74.0 respectively. At 4 to 7 days after parasitoid emergence, the number of mature eggs progressively increased with time and was highest (93 eggs) after parasitoid emergence, respectively. Adult longevity ranged from 3 to 5 days when host larvae were introduced to the parasitoid, with maximum of up to 9 days without host larvae but provided with honey as food. Based on the available, number of mature eggs, T. flavoorbitalis had the potential to parasitize about 35.8 EFSB larvae immediately after emergence and could store as many as 93 mature eggs until seven days after adult emergence. Therefore, Trathala flavoorbitalis could be a promising parasitoid against EFSB.
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