2013•Revista Colombiana de EntomologíaRequires access
Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) as an alternative host for the parasitoid Trichospilus diatraeae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)
Kellen Fávero, Fabrício Fagundes Pereira, Harley Nonato de Oliveira, José Cola Zanúncio
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Abstract
The aim of this work was to verify if Trichospilus diatraeae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was able to parasitize and develop in pupae of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The parasitism rate and emergence of T. diatraeae on pupae of T. molitor was 80% and 50%, respectively. The total number of individuals emerged per pupae on this host was 97.06 ± 17.50 with a sex ratio of 0.94 ± 0.02. The longevity (in days) of females and males of this natural enemy was 18.15 ± 0.99 and 11.67 ± 0.62, respectively. The high reproductive performance of T. diatraeae shows the adequacy of T. molitor pupae for this parasitoid. This is the first report of T. molitor pupae as an alternative host for rearing T. diatraeae.