Functional response of Eretmocerus hayati to two biotypes of the whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

Functional responses of the parasitoid Eretmocerus hayati Zolnerowich and Rose (Hymenoptera:Aphelinidae) to the increase of host density of the whitefly,Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera:Aleyrodidae) biotype B and Q was investigated in the laboratory.The results showed that the functional response could be described well by Holling II type equation on both B and Q biotype hosts and no significant difference was found between the two biotypes.The mortality of whitefly caused by parasitism and feeding of the parasitoid reached over 70% and the maximum number of hosts parasitized and fed reached 40 in a day.These laboratory results indicated a high potential of E.hayati as a biocontrol agent for both the B and Q biotypes of B.tabaci.