Effect of beebread on the reproductive performance of Cotesia vestalis

Abstract

The hypothesis that non-host-feeding synovigenic parasitoids are more likely to rely entirely upon teneral protein reserves for future egg and offspring production was tested in the present study. Protein-rich beebread was mixed with honey to form a paste (honey-beebread) and reproductive parameters of Cotesia vestalis were compared among females that were fed honey with or without beebread. Oviposition period lasted 3 and 8 days in unfed (but water-provided) and fed wasps, respectively. Satiated parasitoids attained peak offspring production within the first 2 days of eclosion, and production dropped sharply after 4 days. Wasps provided with honey-beebread produced more offspring and a more female-biased progeny than conspecifics that were raised on honey. In addition, posteclosion egg maturation progressed irrespective of diet and maximum egg load (102 mature eggs) was attained within 48 h of parasitoid emergence. Obtained results showed that supplementary protein sources could enhance some aspects of reproductive performance in non-host-feeding synovigenic parasitoids.