Parasitoids are important biological control of crop pests. In Vietnam,
Cotesia vestalis
is a native wasp species that has demonstrated its applicability as a natural insect pest enemy. Many adult parasitoids require food resources such as nectar and pollen to optimize their life cycles. Potential effects of yellow cosmos (
Cosmos sulphureus
), shrub verbena flower (
Lantana camara
), common zinnia (
Zinnia elegans
), and coriander flower (
Coriandrum sativum
L.) on the longevity and parasitism of
C. vestalis
were investigated. Results showed that nutrition resources from yellow cosmos (
C. sulphureus
) and shrub verbena flower (
Lantana camara
) significantly increased the longevity of
C. vestalis
in comparison with water (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival functions of female
Cotesia vestalis
exposed to different food sources indicated a significant difference in the treatments (P < 0.01). Male and female wasps feeding on
Cosmos sulphureus
,
Lantana camara
, and
Coriandrum sativum
survived significantly longer than wasps fed on water or
Zinnia elegans.
Parasitism efficiency of
C. vestalis
was tested on diamondback moth
Plutella xylostella
(L.) larvae for different food resources.
Cosmos sulphureus
,
Lantana camara, Coriandrum sativum
treatments gave the different mean number of emergence parasitoids per day compared to water treatment. Results implied that food resources from flowers benefitted the longevity of
C. vestalis
.
Tintinnidsarean important protozoan group in the aquatic food web and had been widely studied in various waters. There are about 1000 known species in the world. However, there have beenvery few taxonomic studies in Vietnam and therefore the number of Tintinnid taxa and their distribution are poorly known. Thepresent study documents 65 tintinnids species belonging to 30 genera and 13 families in samples collected from Khanh Hoa - Binh Thuan waters in 2016 and 2017. There were 17 new taxa records for Vietnam protozoan fauna, raising the number of tintinnids recorded in Vietnam to 125 taxa. Tintinnid assemblages in Khanh Hoa-Binh Thuan waters shared about 17 species with Ha Long Bay, 32 species with Con Co island and 26 species with coastal waters of South Vietnam. Analysis of species diversity shows that the Shannon diversity index H' varied from 1.5 to 2.6. Distribution of species numbers and diversity in the Khanh Hoa - Binh Thuan waters revealed possible combined effects of hydrographical activities (e.g. upwelling), Mekong river influent (e.g. salinity), and food available on tintinnid communities. Citation: Nguyen Thi Kieu, Phan Tan Luom, Nguyen Tam Vinh, Nguyen Ngoc Lam, Josepth P. Montoya, Doan Nhu Hai, 2017. Biodiversity of Tintinnids (Tintinnida) in Khanh Hoa - Binh Thuan waters. Tap chi Sinh hoc, 39(4): 421-433. DOI: 10.15625/0866-7160/v39n4.11033. *Corresponding author:haidoan-ion@planktonviet.org.vn Received 19 September 2017, accepted 12 December 2017
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