Genetic improvement of egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) by artificial selection

Genetic improvement of egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonisis highly essential to develop superior strains having insecticide tolerance capacity. A laboratory experiment was conducted inorder to evaluate toxicity of some selected insecticides and their effect on parasitism, mortality rate in egg parasitoid T. chilonis. Among all the insecticides tested imidacloprid was found the most toxic to T. chilonis with LC50 and LC95 value was 0.036 and 0.164 mg a.i. /l followed by fenvalerate with LC50 and LC95 value 0.211 and 1.056 mg a.i./l. Based on risk quotient only chlorantraniliprole was found to be harmless to T. chilonis while other insecticides were belongs to slightly to moderately toxic category. So there is need to improved potential for pesticide resistance by artificial selection in parasitoids has been shown to be a practical and cost effective method, can fit in all integrated pest management (IPM) strategies.