Studies With Whitefly Parasites of Southern California: I.Encarsia pergandiellaHoward (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
- 1 July 1966
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in The Canadian Entomologist
- Vol. 98 (7) , 707-724
- https://doi.org/10.4039/ent98707-7
Abstract
Studies on the biology of Encarsia pergandiella Howard, a solitary, arrhenotokous endoparasite, revealed that fertilized eggs, which give rise to females, are deposited in whitefly nymphs preferably in second, third or fourth instar, while unfertilized eggs, which give rise to males, are deposited in Encarsia larvae at whose expense they develop. The parasite adults were observed to feed on body fluids of whitefly nymphs. Both sexes have a pupal and three larval stages, and development from egg to adult at approximately 75° F. takes 15 days for the females and 13 to 14 days for the males. Mean longevity of the females at constant and fluctuating temperatures was studied. Actual mean fecundity at 75 ± 4° F. was 48.5 eggs per female, all of which were deposited during the first 70% of her life, provided hosts were abundant. Field observations revealed that E. pergandiella was present throughout the year, reaching highest numbers in the spring and summer. The parasite does not have an obligatory period of dormancy for all of its individuals. E. pergandiella was not able to prevent whiteflies from causing heavy damage to plants. The reason may be in the discrepancy between the rate of increase of the whitefly and the parasite.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Biological Studies on Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)1Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1966
- The Developmental Biologies of Two Encyrtid Parasites of Coccus hesperidum and their Intrinsic Competition1Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1964
- Patterns in the Host-Feeding Habit of Adult Parasitic Hymenoptera1Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1964
- The Effect of Temperature on an Insect Host‐Parasite PopulationEcology, 1949
- Oösorption and Ovulation in Relation to Oviposition in the Parasitic HymenopteraAnnals of the Entomological Society of America, 1942
- A Method for Rearing Citrus Thrips in the LaboratoryJournal of Economic Entomology, 1942
- Cocoon Formation in Endoparasitic Chalcidoid1Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1938
- Recherches sur les Formes Post-Embryonnaires des ChalcidiensAnnales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.), 1924
- Encarcia Versicolor Species Novum, an Eulophid Parasite of the Greenhouse Whitefly, Aleyrodes Vaporariorum WestwoodPsyche: A Journal of Entomology, 1908