Yacon as an alternative host plant for Encarsia formosa mass‐rearing: validating a multinomial theorem for bootstrap technique in life table research

Abstract

BACKGROUND Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) is a broadleaf host plant suitable for rearing the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood). Here, the possibility of using yacon as an alternative host plant for production of the parasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, one of the most important natural enemies of whiteflies, was explored. Data on the demographic characteristics, parasitism rate, and host‐feeding rate were collected and analyzed using the TWOSEX‐MSChart, CONSUME‐MSChart, and TIMING‐MSChart computer programs, and then contrasted with comparable data from the more commonly utilized host plant, tobacco. RESULTS Higher fecundity (F) (190.13 eggs/female) and more oviposition days (Od) (16.60 days) were observed in E. formosa when yacon was used as the host plant for rearing T. vaporariorum, compared with when tobacco was used (F = 150.13 eggs/female, Od = 15.27 days). The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), and net reproduction rate (R0) were significantly higher in E. formosa parasitizing T. vaporariorum reared on yacon compared with those parasitizing tobacco‐reared T. vaporariorum. Furthermore, the net host‐feeding rate (C0 = 40.87 prey/parasitoid), net killing rate (Z0 = 239.73 prey/parasitoid), and finite killing rate (υ = 0.2560/day) for E. formosa on yacon‐reared whiteflies were significantly higher than those from tobacco‐reared whiteflies. CONCLUSION Our results showed that yacon is more suitable than tobacco as a host plant for mass‐rearing E. formosa for biological control programs to manage whiteflies. An innovative application of the multinomial theorem for calculating the exact probability of bootstrap samples in life table research was also introduced. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry

Demographic Evaluation of the Control Potential of Orius minutus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) Preying on Dendrothrips minowai Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) at Different Temperatures

“…The net predation rate (c 0 ) of O. minutus at 25 • C was 310 prey (Table 2), and higher than a commercialized anthocorid BCAs, for example, O. strigicollis, which consumed an average of 140 western flower thrips or 101 Frankliniella intons during its lifetime at constant 25 • C [25]. This result may imply that O. minutus has great potential as BCA on tea thrips [26,27,39]. Meanwhile, we simulated the 120-day population development of the predator and prey, and the interaction between them at five constant temperatures at a ratio of 10 O. minutus to 200 prey (Figure 6).…”

“…Compared to the traditional life table [20], the age-stage, two-sex life table is able to evaluate the demographic development of natural enemy insects and provide a complete description of the biological control potential of this species [21][22][23][24]. The application of this program and theory has made significant promotion in the research of population ecology, biological control and pest management and was widely accepted by many entomologists [25][26][27].…”

The Fitness of Mass Rearing Food on the Establishment of Chrysopa pallens in a Banker Plant System under Fluctuating Temperature Conditions

“…Although the predation rates of C. pallens on aphid food observed in our study were lower than those in controlled conditions [54,74,75,79], evidence of the control efficiency of C. pallens in practical applications suggests its potential application as a BCA in the field. Despite an increasing number of studies on biological control programs, there is a paucity of literature on the population and predation parameters of BCAs under variable environmental conditions, even though these are essential in the mass rearing and release of BCAs [51,86]. Moreover, such studies can provide a theoretical basis and practical knowledge for the application of C. pallens in greenhouses.…”

Quality assessment of Telenomus remus successively reared on Spodoptera litura eggs for 30 generations

“…The parameters used in this study and the corresponding equations and definition information, are shown in Table 1. The bootstrap technique was used with 100 000 permutations to estimate the variances and the standard errors of the life table parameters 57,58 . Paired bootstrap tests in TWOSEX‐MSChart were used to analyze differences among different generations.…”