Prey consumption by Harmonia axyridis of un- parasitized and Encarsia formosa parasitized Bemisia tabaci biotype B prey

Abstract

Bemisia tabaci is a major pest, causing serious losses to many agricultural crops worldwide. In the present study, E. formosa did not parasitize B. tabaci egg and N1, but the subsequent developmental stages were parasitized. H. axyridis larvae as well as adults consumed significantly higher number of unparasitized than E. formosa parasitized B. tabaci N2, N3, N4 and pharate adults prey. The consumed number of prey increased in the subsequent predator’s larval instars, where the adult females consumed higher number of prey than the males. The predator consumed both un-parasitized and parasitized prey, where the number of un-parasitized prey was significantly higher than parasitized one. The present results provide more opportunities of using H. axyridis in pest management programs together with E. formosa. As the predator feed more on un-parasitized prey, there is greater potential of integration both natural enemies in a biological control program against B. tabaci for higher pest suppression.