The capacity of Trichogramma chilotraeae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) to parasitize Spodoptera frugiperda reared with natural diet vs artificial diet vs alternate host

Abstract

Abstract Parasitoids can be mass-produced easily using artificial diets or an alternate host. This research examined Trichogramma chilotreae’s ability to parasitize S. frugiperda (reared on different diets) and Corcyra cephalonica eggs (alternate host). The research was conducted using a completely randomized design. The treatment used is the type of egg (50 eggs of S. frugiperda fed on a natural and artificial diet during the larval stage and 50 eggs of C. cephalonica). These eggs were exposed for 24 hours to one mated female of T. chilotraeae and then reared until the emergence of adult parasitoids. Results show that T. chilotraeae parasitized more S. frugiperda eggs fed on a natural or artificial diet than C. cephalonica eggs. However, the parasitization rate was the same between the three. Similar to the sex ratio of the resulting T. chilotraeae offspring, S. frugiperda eggs fed on a natural diet produced more female offspring than S. frugiperda eggs fed on an artificial diet or on C. cephalonica eggs, indicating that mass rearing of T. chilotraeae can be carried out using a host in the form of S. frugiperda eggs from adult fed on artificial diet during a larval stage or by using C. cephalonica eggs.