Variation among populations of Trichogramma euproctidis (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) revealed by life table parameters: perspectives for biological control

The successful mass-rearing of potential biological control agents is a prerequisite for sustainable pest control. In this study, the performance of 3 Trichogramma euproctidis (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) populations collected from different locations in Khuzestan (Southwest Iran) were evaluated to optimize the egg parasitoid mass-rearing for augmentative biological control of lepidopteran pests. We aimed to investigate the effects of both population origin and host quality on biological traits of ovipositing females (number of parasitized eggs) and of their progeny (development time, survival rate, sex ratio, longevity, and fecundity). The effect of host quality was assessed by allowing the parasitoid to oviposit into 1, 2, 3, or 4-day-old Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs. The 3 T. euproctidis populations developed successfully regardless the age of the host eggs. However, we found significant variation among populations and a strong influence of host quality on the traits investigated. Progeny performance in all populations decreased with increasing host age. The best-performing population (collected in Mollasani) showed the highest parasitization rate, highest survival rate, and progeny sex ratio with the greatest percentage of females. A life table corroborated these findings with superior estimates of the net reproductive rate (R-0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), and reduced generation time (T) for the Mollasani population on 1-day-old host eggs. We conclude that ample variation exists among T. euproctidis populations and that rearing the Mollasani population on young rather than old eggs of E. kuehniella would be recommended to implement the biological control programs to target lepidopteran pests in Southwestern Iran.