Offspring Production in Response to Host Exposure Times in Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Reared on the Genetic Sexing Strain Vienna 8 of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of different times of exposure to the host on parasitoid emergence rate, parasitoid progeny sex ratio, and on host mortality, as a step toward the development of an efficient mass-rearing system for the braconid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) on larvae of the VIENNA 8 Temperature Sensitive Lethal Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) strain. The role of host-rearing substrate cues in stimulating the host-searching behavior of parasitoid females was also evaluated. Three exposure times (40, 60, and 120 min) were tested. One hundred 7 d-old host larvae were exposed to 25 female parasitoids per treatment. Larvae mixed with wheat-based rearing medium and larvae without medium were used in each test. A second set of treatments with the same method described above was conducted using late third-instars of the C. capitata wild-type strain. These experiments were carried out to assess the quality of the larvae of VIENNA 8 strain in producing D. longicaudata adults by comparing them with the larvae of the wild-type strain. Results indicated that the use of larvae of VIENNA 8 strain on their rearing diet at 40 min exposure time significantly increased overall parasitoid offspring production and decreased the host mortality level. Nevertheless, parasitoid emergence recorded from VIENNA 8 strain was notably lower than that recorded from the wild-type strain. Low parasitoid emergence levels and the prevalence of male-biased progeny recorded in all assays are obstacles to development of a parasitoid mass-rearing system using larvae of VIENNA 8 strain as host. Additional studies focusing on host exposure to parasitoids are needed to verify the effect of host larval quality on the production of D. longicaudata.