Parasitic behaviour of Telenomus sp. on Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract

The egg parasite Telenomus sp. (Hyme­noptera: Scelionidae) could be an important biological alternative to be used in the diver­sification of biological control programs. Laboratory and field studies are being car­ried out by Corpoica at the Palmira Research Center (T=25^°C; R.H.=65%) to broaden the 'knowledge on the behavior of this parasitoid that allows a mass-rearing production and a successful liberation in Spodoptera frugiper­da (J.E. Smith) infested fields. The results show that Telenomus emerge at different ti­mes depending on the sex: 10 to 11 days for males and 13 to 14 days for females. The maximum longevity of Telenomus sp. in the laboratory was 20-22 days, and the optimum time of exposition of the host to the parasi­toid was 24 hours, and the best parasitism was obtained on eggs with less than 24 hours of incubation. The parasitism registered in the laboratory was above 90%.