Parasitizing potential of four Trichogramma species on the eggs of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)

Abstract

The laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the parasitising efficacy of four Trichogramma species against the eggs of pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) The results revealed that the maximum (>87%) and minimum (<36%) parasitisation was obtained in the case of Trichogrammatidae bactrae and Trichogramma japonicum, respectively. The increasing order of percent adult emergence from the parasitised pink bollworm eggs were as T. bactrae (91.25) < T. chilonis (88.66) < T. brasiliensis (52.08) < T. japonicum (49.09). There was no significantly difference seen in the developmental period among the four species which ranged between 6.17 to 7.33 days. Our results indicated that T. bactrae and T. chilonis were relatively more effective in parasitising pink bollworm eggs. Hence these two species of Trichogramma can be safely included in bio intensive IPM programmes for managing insect pests in agro-ecosystems more effectively.