Biology and demographic parameters of the ectoparasitoid Goniozus legneri (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) reared on Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)
摘要
The European grapevine moth (EGVM) Lobesia botrana is currently harming Argentine viticulture, a key agri-industrial activity in this country. The combined use of insecticides and mating disruption techniques is providing adequate pest control. Still, other tactics are worth investigating to reduce crop protection costs and improve environmentally safe management of this key pest. As for biological control, the native gregarious ectoparasitoid Goniozus legneri has shown efficiency in reducing populations of various lepidopteran pests with concealed feeding habits. In this paper, we report studies on biological traits of G. legneri reared on EGVM to determine its reproductive performance on the pest. Through a life table approach, we compared G. legneri population parameters under two rearing conditions: 1) by replacing host larvae after each oviposition event, i.e., continuous oviposition (CO), or 2) by allowing parental care (PC) for four days, a typical behavior in this species. Goniozus legneri egg-to-adult development time was 14.9 (± 2.6) days and it exhibited a low survival rate (25.2%) under the two rearing conditions. The clutch size ranged from 3.76 to 7.30 eggs per host larvae, under CO or PC conditions, respectively. Intrinsic rates of increase (rm) estimated in CO and PC tests were low but positive, which indicates that G. legneri can develop on EGVM. The study provides basic knowledge to use G. legneri as a biological control agent of EGVM through augmentative and conservation biological control approaches.