Environmental Entomology (1991) 20, 349-353

S.K. Braman and K.V. Yeargan (1991)
Reproductive strategies of primary parasitoids of the green cloverworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Environmental Entomology 20 (1), 349-353
Abstract: Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson), Diolcogaster facetosa (Weed), and Rogas nolophanae Ashmead, which respectively parasitize progressively older green cloverworm, Plathypena scabra (F.) larvae, produced (x[bar] ± SE) 362.7 ± 24.1, 83.2 ± 11.4, 66.3 ± 6.1 offspring, respectively, during their lifetimes. Adult female longevity at 24°C averaged 18.1 ± 0.8, 13.0 ± 0.9, and 29.9 ± 2.7 d for these species, respectively. Numbers of mature eggs from dissections of 2-d-old females were 105 ± 7.1, 57 ± 5.9, and 5.2 ± 0.9. Primary braconid and tachinid parasitoids of the green cloverworm exhibited decreasing observed or estimated fecundities with respect to increasing age of host larvae attacked. Decreasing fecundities of these parasitoid species may reflect increasing potential for survival until time of parasitoid emergence of the progressively older host larvae which these species attack. Other factors suggested as influencing fecundity are breadth of host range and complexity of host location, capture, and oviposition behaviors.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): S. Kristine Braman, Kenneth V. Yeargan

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Plathypena scabra
Cotesia marginiventris (parasitoid)	Plathypena scabra
Diolcogaster facetosa (parasitoid)	Plathypena scabra
Aleiodes nolophanae (parasitoid)	Plathypena scabra