Evaluation of the Parasitism Capacity of a Thelytoky Egg Parasitoid on a Serious Rice Pest, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål)

and are both egg parasitoids of the brown planthopper, (Stål) (BPH). In this study, we obtained a stable strain of reproduced via thelytoky through indoor rearing and screening. We assessed the parasitism capacity of this strain on eggs of by comparing the parasitism preference and circadian rhythm of this strain to that of , which is proved as the dominant egg parasitoid species of BPH in rice fields. The findings indicated that both egg parasitoids could parasitize fertilized and unfertilized BPH eggs, however, with a significant preference for fertilized eggs. The daily parasitization volume of was slightly higher than that of . Both egg parasitoids preferred parasitizing 1-3-day-old BPH eggs, but the parasitism amount of 5-6-day-old BPH eggs by is higher than that by . The parasitism events of both species of egg parasitoid wasps occurred primarily from 7:00-15:00 and the parasitism amount at night accounted for less than 15% of the total amount. The results indicate that this strain of reproduced via thelytoky could be valuable for rice planthopper control.