Daily progeny production and thermal influence on development and adult longevity of the leafminer parasitoid, Gronotoma micromorpha (Hym., Eucoilidae)

Abstract

Abstract: To evaluate the potential of the parasitoid Gronotoma micromorpha (Perkins) as a biological control agent for the serpentine leafminer Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) in greenhouses, we determined daily progeny production and thermal influence on both total development (oviposition to adult emergence) and adult longevity of this wasp in the laboratory in the host L. trifolii. The mean total number of progeny produced was 75.6 per female at 25°C under a 15‐h light/9‐h dark (15L : 9D) photoregime. The developmental rate of G. micromorpha significantly correlated with constant temperature between 18 and 30°C. The lower thermal threshold and thermal constant for total development of this wasp were 11.7°C and 333.3 heat degree‐days, respectively. The results indicate that adult female G. micromorpha do not oviposit at 15°C and that the lower threshold for oviposition is approximately 18°C. In heated greenhouses in Japan, leafminers and their parasitoids are exposed to both high temperatures and a short photoregime from late autumn to winter, but these conditions (25°C, 10L : 14D) did not significantly affect the total development of G. micromorpha. When wasps were not exposed to hosts, the mean adult longevity at 15 or 20°C was significantly longer than that at 25°C. When wasps were allowed to oviposit into hosts at 25°C, the mean adult longevity was significantly longer than when wasps were not exposed to hosts. As adult female G. micromorpha do not feed on hosts and are pro‐ovigenic, suppression of oviposition probably decreased adult longevity. The biological traits of G. micromorpha elucidated by this and previous studies indicate that this wasp is suitable as a biological control agent for L. trifolii in greenhouses.