Temperature-dependent development of Aphidius matricariae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae), as a parasitoid of the Russian wheat aphid

Temperature-dependent development of a Czechoslovakian population of the parasitoid Aphidius matricariae Haliday was measured at eight constant temperatures between 11 and 31 degrees C using the Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), as a host. Development rate from oviposition to emergence of adult wasps increased linearly with increasing temperature between 11 and 26 degrees C. No adult wasps emerged from parasitized aphids at 31 degrees C. Requirements for development from oviposition to adult eclosion were 273.1 +/- 5.9 degree-days above a threshold of 4.5 +/- 0.4 degrees C. These results are compared with previously reported data on temperature-dependent development of other populations of A. matricariae and the host, D. noxia