REARING OF NATURAL ENEMIES OF PIERIS BRASSICAE L. UNDER LABORATORY CONDITION

Set of laboratory experiments was conducted to determine the Pieris brassicae L. larval stage preference of Cotesia glomerata L., Diadegma pierisae (Rao), Pteromalus puparium L.and Brachymeria lasus Walker and their influence on life history traits. Materials Ind Methods The research studies on rearing of natural enemies of cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) on cauliflower, Brassica oleracea L. was conducted at the Agricultural Research Institute Tarnab, Peshawar. Table 5 revealed that after exposing 1st instar larvae of P. brassicae to C. glomarata no parasitization was observed and no butterfly was emerged Table 6 showed that after parasitization of 1st and 5th instar P. brassicae larvae by B. lasus the values for average number of host pupa formed, and similar number of butterfly emerged, female to male sex ratio and percent parasitization were all nil. Paul and Tumlinson (1999) reported that volatile terpenoids and other compounds emitted from leaves in response to insect damage allow insect parasitoids (such as parasitic wasps) and predators to distinguish between infested and noninfested plants, and thus aid in locating hosts or prey.