Host Stage Selection and Suitability in Cephalonomia stephanoderis Betrem (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), a Parasitoid of the Coffee Berry Borer

Abstract

Paired choice experiments were used to evaluate host feeding and oviposition preferences of Cephalonomia stephanoderis (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), a solitary ectoparasitoid of the coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Immature and ovipositing females may feed on all developmental stages of the host, but prefer eggs and adults. Parasitoid females parasitize prepupae, pupae, and full-grown larvae of H. hampei, the latter stage being least preferred. Ovipositional decisions of C. stephanoderis females lead to the selection of the most profitable host stage for parasitoid development because parasitoids developing on larval hosts took more time to reach the adult stage and were smaller than those developing on prepupal and pupal hosts. The behavioral plasticity of C. stephandoderis in CBB host stage selection for both host feeding and oviposition may contribute to the survival and establishment of C. stephanoderis as a biological control agent of H. hampei in coffee plantations.