Adult longevity,fertilityandsexratioofHabrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): effect of host artificial diets

Abstract

Habrobracon hebetor is a larval gregarious ecto-parasitoid of several species of Lepidoptera in the family Pyralidae. Host diet strongly influences the reproductive success of the parasitoid. In this study, we assessed the reproductive performance of the parasitoid, H. hebetor in a series of laboratory experiments using four different host diets (wheat flour, wheat flour mixed with 20٪ wheat germ, wheat flour mixed with 20٪ glycerol and wheat flour mixed with 10 ٪ wheat germ, 10٪ glycerol) for rearing E. kuehniella. The result shows that total fertility was highest on whole wheat flour mixed with glycerol and whole wheat flour mixed with glycerol and germ (181.2 ± 10.7 and 182.4 ± 14.7, respectively). Longevity of H. hebetor females and males were significantly higher on whole wheat flour mixed with glycerol (23.4 ± 1.3 and 15.6 ± 1.2,). The progeny sex ratio was not significantly affected by the host diet.