Effect of temperature on the functional response of the egg parasitoid Telenomus busseolae (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) to sugarcane pink borer Sesamia cretica (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs

The egg parasitoid Telenomus busseolae Gahan is the most important parasitoid of sugarcane pink borers and plays an important role in the suppression of their populations in Iran. To understand the efficiency of T. busseolae parasitizing Sesamia cretica Lederer, in this study, the functional response of the parasitoid was investigated at different temperatures (20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees C). The results of logistic regression indicated a type III functional response at all the temperatures. Roger's random parasite equation fitted the observed data at 30 and 35 degrees C, but Holling's disc equation fitted the data better at 20 and 25 degrees C. The attack rate of T. busseolae ranged from 0.0036 to 0.2148, 0.00017 to 0.1031, 0.0049 to 0.2952 and 0.0006 to 0.0382 per h, and the estimated handling time was 0.80, 0.48, 0.32 and 0.13 h at 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees C, respectively.