Effects of storage on the biology of eretmocerus mundus mercet (Hymenoptera: Aphenilidae)

The effects of storage on functional response and life table parameters of Eretmocerus mundus were studied at a constant temperature of 25±1 °C and 16:8 L:D photoperiod. In the functional response experiments, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 second instar B. tabaci nymphs were given to the eight-day stored and un-stored female parasitoids for 24 hours. In life table experiments, parasitism capacity of newly emerged un-stored and stored female parasitoids was evaluated. Additionally, longevity of stored and un-stored female and male parasitoids was also determined. The stored adult parasitoids were obtained from red-eyed E. mundus pupae stored at 10 °C for eight days. According to logistic regression analysis, un-stored and stored populations of Er. mundus showed a Type II functional response. The attack rate (α) and the handling time (Th) of Type II response were calculated by fitting Holling Disc Equation to the data. These two coefficients were varied depending on the populations. The highest α and the shortest Th values were respectively determined to be 1.009 and 0.055 for unstored Er. mundus. Life table parameters, such as net reproduction rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (rm) and doubling time (DT) were also found to be higher for the un-stored parasitoid population. Although storage could affect the performance of Er. mundus, the parasitoid had successfully continued to parasitize second instar B. tabaci.