Comparative studies on Tetrastichus hagenowii (Ratzeburg) and T. asthenogmus (Waterston), two primary parasites of cockroach oothecae, and on their hyperparasite Tetrastichus sp. (T. miser (Nees) group) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Abstract

Tetrastichus hagenowii (Ratz.) and T. asthenogmus (Wtstn.) are parasitic in cockroach oothecae and may themselves be attacked by a species of Tetrastichus of the group of T. miser (Nees). In Bangalore in 1976-79, the primary parasites were reared from oothecae of Peripianeta americana (L.), P. australasiae (F.) and P. brunnea Burm., and laboratory colonies of them were established on oothecae of P. americana. The hyperparasite, reared from field-collected oothecae of Periplaneta spp., was bred in the laboratory on oothecae of P. americana containing larvae of T. hagenowii. The immature stages of the three species of parasites were compared and their biologies studied. The eggs of the three species can be differentiated on the basis of their shape as can the pupae, but the larvae of the two primary parasites are indistinguishable. The duration of the developmental stages of the three species overlapped but the hyperparasite had a slightly shorter pupal period. Host finding by the T. hagenowii female was investigated. The two primary parasites were similar in most of their biological attributes. However, T. asthenogmus was inherently superior to the Bangalore strain of T. hagenowii in having lower levels of female sterility and its greater preference for the oothecae of P. brunnea, the predominant species of cockroach in Bangalore. T. hagenowii proved to be more tolerent of low temperatures than T. asthenogmus. The hyperparasite had an advantage over the other two species in possessing longer life-span and synovigenic females, and individual females parasitised more oothecae in their life-span than the primary parasites; but it was unable to distinguish healthy oothecae from those containing larvae of the other two species until it had drilled into them.

Comparisons Between the Squash Bug Egg Parasitoids Ooencyrtus anasae and O. sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae): Development, Survival, and Sex Ratio in Relation to Temperature

“…are gregarious parasitoids whose progeny emerge synchronously from the host. Gregarious development occurs in several other species of Ooencyrtus (Maple 1937, Matteson 1981, Fedde 1982, and synchronous emergence has been reported for a wide range of gregarious endoparasitoids (Nechols 1981, Fedde 1982, Narasimham 1984, Nechols & Kikuchi 1985, Arakaki & Ganaha 1986). …”

SEX-RATIO MANIPULATION IN RESPONSE TO HOST SIZE BY THE PARASITOID WASPSPALANGIA CAMERONI: A LABORATORY STUDY

“…Size data are available for two of the four species in which males and females develop in about the same amount of time. In one species males are larger than females (Odebiyi and Oatman, 1977), and in the other, females are larger than males (Narasimham, 1984). In both species, the degree of size dimorphism is slight.…”

“…I have found only four exceptions among 50 species. In Agathis unicolor (Odebiyi and Oatman, 1977), Tetrastichus asthenogmus and T. hagenowii (Narasimham, 1984), and Microplitis brassicae (Browning and Oatman, 1985), males and females develop in approximately the same amount of time. The shorter development time of males in most species may be an indirect result of selection for small male size, or vice versasmall male size may be an indirect result of selection for early male emergence (Hurlbutt, 1987b).…”

A review of the hymenopterous natural enemies of cockroaches with emphasis on biological control

“…C. merceti is a gregarious endoparasitoid (usually 5-25 individuals per ootheca) that often consumed the entire contents of the egg case. Ferchauld (1742), BI Williams (1929, 1942, 1944 Genieys (1924), HR, BI Edmunds (1952b), HR Edmunds (1952b, 1954, HR, BI Rau (1940) Roth & Willis (1954a, 1960, HR, BI Roth & Willis (1954a, 1960, HR, BI Roth & Willis (1954a, 1960, HR, BI Narasimham & Sankaran (1979,1982), HR Narasimham & Sankaran (1979, 1982, HR Narasimham & Sankaran (1979,1982), HR Bou/~ek (1979), TX Usman (1949), BI Roth & Willis (1954b, 1960, HR, BI, BC Cameron (1955), HR, BI, TX Edmunds (1955), BI Amonkar et al (1974), BI, BC Fleet & Frankie (1975), BI, BC Piper et al (1978), HR, BC Narasimham & Sankaran (1979), HR Harlan & Kramer (1981), HR, BI Narasimham (1984), BI, BC Graham (1987), TX Kumarasinghe & Edirisinghe (1987), HR, BI Hagenbuch et al (1988, 1989 Narasimham (1984), BI, BC C. merceti Narasimham (1984), BI, BC…”