Effect of cold storage of pupae parasitoid wasp,Habrobracon hebetor(Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), on its efficiency

Effect of Cold Storage on Development of Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Braconidae: Hymenoptera) Reared on Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

“…The offspring declined to increase in the cold storage period because living organisms had limited resources, which were spent on growth, reproduction maintenance [34], and maternal aging. Previous studies had suggested that H. hebetor might overwinter in the adult stage [9,10,21], while our data showed that H. hebetor adults could survive up to 21 days at 10 and 15 ºC during the pupal stage. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) were expressed in most organisms in response to a wide range of stressful environmental conditions [34].…”

“…This study showed that H. hebetor can be effectively stored in cold conditions for up to 14 days, and can contribute to the improved use of H. hebetor as a biological control agent in pest management programs. Previous studies indicated that cold storage of H. hebetor for 14 -21 days did not seem to affect its survival and reproductive capabilities, which are traits that need to be maintained after cold storage [9,10,21]. A few studies reported that cold storage provides positive effects on the performance of H. hebetor rearing on P. interpunctella [9,21] and E. kuehniella [10], and studies supported that the storage of H. hebetor in cold temperatures was considered as a valuable tool to provide more flexibility and efficiency in mass production [9,10,21,22].…”

“…The proteins disappeared quickly after diapause was terminated [9,33]. However, previous studies indicated that increasing the longer cold storage of H. hebetor females resulted in a decline in parasitism, longevity, and fecundity of parents and offspring [9,10,21,33]. For example, the ability of H. hebetor to parasitize P. interpunctella larvae declined with increasing cold storage period, and H. hebetor parents stored for 70 days and allowed to parasitize P. interpunctella larvae for 72 h caused only 44 % mortality, whereas control parents achieved 90 % mortality [21].…”

“…Habrobracon hebetor (= Bracon hebetor Say) has long been known as an important biological control agent to inflict substantial mortality on various immature insects belonging to Order Lepidoptera [6,7]. This parasitoid is considered as one of the best potential biological control agents and a well-known polyphagous ectoparasitoid of many lepidopteran larvae infesting flour mills, warehouses, and food stores in storage facilities, especially the larvae of Family Pyralidae and Noctuidae [6,[8][9][10][11]. Several researchers reported that the release of H. hebetor can deplete numbers of insect pests in both storage [6,8] and field Effect of Cold Temperature on H. hebetor Atirach NOOSIDUM et al http://wjst.wu.ac.th conditions [12], such as the Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella Zeller), Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella (Hübner)), rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton)), greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella (L.)), and army worm (Helicoverpa amigera (Hübner)), because of its high reproductive and development rate, short generation time, and wide range of host species [6,7,10].…”

“…Moreover, the effects of different factors on the behavioral ecology of H. hebetor are elated to parasitism succession in optimizing mass production of the parasitoid in biological control programs [13,17]. Host density and storage techniques are necessary to improve the flexibility and efficiency in mass production of H. hebetor [10,18].…”