Laboratory Methods for Rearing Spotted Tentiform Leafminer (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and Two of Its Parasitoids

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Abstract
Methods are described for rearing spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter Blancardella (F.) (Lepidoptera; Gracillariidae), and two of its parasitoids, Pholetesor ornigis (Weed) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Sympiesis marylandensis Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in the laboratory. One-year-old Malus domestica Borkh. ‘Mailing 7’ clonal rootstocks were grown in a greenhouse and then infested with leafminers. Trees were held at 23°C in a controlled-temperature chamber until larvae reached the desired stages for parasitoid oviposition. Time from leafminer oviposition to first, second, third, fourth, and fifth instar larva was 7, 10, 13, 15, and 18 d, respectively. Development time from oviposition to adult emergence was 28.3, 20.5, and 9.6 d for males of Phyllonorycter blancardella, Pholetesor ornigis, and S. marylandensis. Development time for females was 29.1,21.3, and 10.9 d, respectively.