Entomology, Ornithology & Herpetology: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0983
ISSN: 2161-0983
Esmat Hegazi, Wedad Khafagi and Fredrik Schlyter
Accepted Abstracts: Entomol Ornithol Herpetol
The number of mature eggs carried by a female parasitoid at any given moment (egg load) is a fitness-related parameter affecting reproductive potential and impacting upon host population dynamics. Microplitis rufiventris Kok. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a solitary koinobiont endoparasitoid wasp of several noctuid pests including Spodoptera littoralis . The number of mature eggs carried by females at emergence is ≈ 50.Egg maturation rate is strongly affected both by feeding status and access to host larvae. In early adult life, egg maturation rates are lower for 6 - 72 h in fed wasps compared to food deprived (most effect sizes, d, around). When given access to hosts, honey-fed wasps live ≈ 9 days with high lifetime fecundity (226). The total realised fecundity is positively affected by feeding status, where water fed and starved females have140 and 107 eggs (d >1), respectively. Egg resorption is most pronounced in the later life of the female. The results suggest, in addition to confirming the effect of honey-feeding on total fecundity, that fecundity of starved wasps includes rapid egg maturation early in life, which potentially improves biocontrol under inundative release.