Adelphoparasitic behavior of Encarsia lutea Masi (Hym: Aphelinidae), a parasitoid of cotton whitefly bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hem: Aleyrodidae)

In this study, the objective is to determine conspesific and heterospesific behavior of mated and unmated Encarsia lutea (Masi) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) females on different secondary hosts in no-choice and choice bioassays. For this aim, the 3rd instar of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and three different stages (the white stage, red-eye stage, and black-eye stage pupa) of immature En. lutea and Er. mundus were used as hosts. The study concluded that, in both choice and non-choice bioassays, unmated females of En. lutea were not parasitized the immature stage of B. tabaci. Native females of En. lutea parasitized all three immature stages of En. lutea at a higher rate compared to mated females. In both bioassays, both mated and unmated En. lutea females exhibited a preference for the white pupae of Er. mundus and the red-eye pupae of En. lutea as hosts for parasitism and feeding. In choice bioassays where the three species (B. tabaci, En. lutea, and Er. mundus) were provided together, both mated and unmated female individuals of En. lutea parasitized or fed on more conspecifics (En. lutea) than heterospecific (Er. mundus) hosts. It has been determined that En. lutea, as a adelphoparasitoit, parasitizes different stages of Er. mundus in very low rates and is unable to parasitize the black-eye stage at all.