Influences of Natural Temperatures and Controlled Host Densities on Oviposition of an Insect Parasite

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Abstract
Influences of natural temps, and controlled host densities on the oviposition of an insect parasite were examined when 100 females of Dahlbominus fuscipennis were liberated among various nos. of cocoons of the sawfly Neodiprion sertifer, uniformly distributed over 25-sq.-ft. plots of grass lawn. The no. of hosts parasitized and of parasite eggs laid (except at the higher temps.) tended to vary as the square root of the no. of hosts exposed. Temp, influenced the no. of hosts parasitized and of eggs laid in each parasitized host. The relation of the percentage of hosts parasitized to host density was also modified by temp. The age of the host cocoon modified the oviposition of the parasite. The influences of temp, and host density on the oviposition of D. fuscipennis under simplified field conditions were similar, in general, to those under laboratory conditions.

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