Evaluation of Telenomus remus (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) as a biocontrol agent of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) based on two-sex life table and functional response analyses

Abstract

Background: Telenomus remus Nixon is an important egg parasitoid of Spodoptera spp. pests and, as such, has potential as a biological control agent. Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) is a significant pest of many economically important crops worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the demographic parameters and functional response of T. remus on the S. litura eggs. Results: T. remus can lay 186.90 eggs/female in the lifetime, adult preoviposition period was 0 days, total preoviposition period was 10.03 days, and the ratio of female and male offspring was 0.495 and 0.421, respectively. In addition, most females emerged from 24 h-old eggs, whereas most males emerged from 48 h-old eggs. The intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase, net reproductive rate, mean generation time, and population doubling time were 0.3506 d–1 1.4199 d–1 92.45 offspring/individua, 12.91 days and 1.98 days, respectively. The net killing rate of T. remus on S. litura was 101.49 eggs/female, indicating the high capacity of T. remus to parasitize S. litura eggs. Moreover, the higher the egg density, the higher the parasitism rate by female T. remus, although there was a trend of parasitism stabilization at an egg density of 100, indicating a type II functional response curve for this parasitoid. Conclusion: Overall, these findings suggest that T. remus can be efficiently reared on S. litura eggs and shows potential as biocontrol agent for this economically important pest species.