Influence of Holding Conditions and Storage Duration of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Eggs on Adventive and Quarantine Populations of Trissolcus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) Behavior and Parasitism Success

Abstract

Halyomorpha halys (Stål) is an invasive pest in the United States and other countries. In its native range, H. halys eggs are parasitized by a co-evolved parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead). In the United States, T. japonicus, a classical biological control candidate, is being redistributed in many states where adventive populations exist. To establish if H. halys egg holding conditions affect T. japonicus foraging behavior or successful parasitism, naïve, female parasitoids from an adventive population were allowed to forage in laboratory bioassay arenas with either fresh or frozen (-20 or -80°C) egg masses, the latter held for five durations ranging from 1 h to 112 d. Parasitoid movements were recorded for 1 h. Thereafter, parasitoids were transferred with the same egg mass for 23 h. Additionally, female parasitoids from a quarantine colony were exposed to: 1) pairs of fresh egg masses and egg masses frozen at -40°C (>24 h) or 2) a single fresh egg mass or egg mass frozen at -40°C (<1 h). All exposed egg masses were held to assess progeny emergence. In the foraging bioassay, holding temperature and storage duration appeared to influence host-finding and host quality. Egg masses held at -80°C and fresh egg masses resulted in significantly greater levels of parasitism and progeny emergence compared with eggs held at -20°C. No differences were recorded between egg masses held at -40°C for ≤1 h and fresh egg masses. These results will help refine methods for preparation of egg masses for sentinel monitoring and parasitoid mass rearing protocols.