Egg Allocation on Anastrepha ludens Larvae by Mass-Reared Diachasmimorpha longicaudata Females

Abstract

The age-dependent reproductive behavior of parasitoid females under mass-rearing conditions may influence the quality of the biocontrol agents produced. Therefore, this studyassessed the egg allocation behavior of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) females atdifferent ages under mass-rearing conditions. This parasitoid native to Southeast Asia ismass-reared on irradiated Anastrepha ludens (Loew) larvae at the Moscafrut Program facilityin Mexico and is released in crop areas to suppress fruit fly pest species. Parasitoid femalesaged 5–10 days were used to assess quality control parameters, such as parasitized host mortality, parasitoid emergence, offspring sex ratio, and superparasitism. Anastrepha ludenspuparia were checked and dissected 72 h after being exposed to female parasitoids todetermine the number of scars on the puparium of first-instar parasitoids, respectively.Parasitized puparia were kept under lab conditions to assess adult emergence and offspring sex ratio. Host mortality, superparasitism, and parasitoid offspring sex ratio wereaffected by female age. The highest host mortality and superparasitism were caused by5–7-day-old females, which also produced a significantly higher female-to-male offspringratio with improved fitness-related parameters. The use of cages with females of these agesmay improve the quality parameters of parasitoids and result in higher female-to-maleoffspring sex ratios. Furthermore, production costs could be lowered by reducing thequantity of hosts and rearing commodities. These findings are a useful contribution toimproving the current method used for the mass rearing of D. longicaudata at the MoscafrutProgram facility.