Biological Characteristics and Thermal Requirements of the Biological Control Agent Telenomus remus (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) Reared on Eggs of Different Species of the Genus Spodoptera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The biological characteristics of Telenomus remus Nixon, 1937 (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) on eggs of Spodoptera albula (Walker, 1857); S. cosmioides Walker 1858, S. eridania (Cramer, 1782); and S. frugiperda (Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were evaluated under different temperatures (19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34°C ± 1°C). The duration of the T. remus egg-to-adult period on eggs of all four Spodoptera species and the longevity of adults of T. remus were both inversely proportional to the increase in temperature. Parasitoid emergence was higher than 80% at temperatures from 19 to 28°C when the parasitoid was reared on eggs of S. eridania and S. frugiperda. Differently, when the parasitoid was reared on eggs of S. albula and S. cosmioides, T. remus emergence at rates of 80% or higher just occurred from 22 to 25°C and at 22°C, respectively. At 34°C, this parameter was lower than 30% for T. remus reared in all hosts. The sex ratio was 64–86% females, except for T. remus in S. cosmioides eggs at 34°C, in which temperature it was 39%. The estimated thermal requirements of T. remus, for the thermal constant (K) and the base temperature (Tbase), were: 125.39 DD and 15.139°C; 125.56 DD and 14.912°C; 142.98 DD and 14.197°C; and 149.16 DD and 13.846°C, for S. cosmioides, S. frugiperda, S. albula, and S. eridania, respectively. In general, T. remus showed good parasitism potential on all the hosts, although eggs of S. frugiperda, S. eridania, and S. albula proved to be the most suitable for mass rearing of T. remus in the laboratory. Eggs of S. cosmioides are less suitable because of the lower parasitoid emergence observed at most of the temperatures with exception of 22°C.