Parasitization of 6 lepidopteran cotton pests byChelonus blackburni [Hym.: Braconidae

Abstract

When eggs of 6 species of lepidopteran cotton pests were offered toChelonus blackburniCameron, all were parasitized except those of the saltmarsh caterpillar,Estigmene acrea (Drury). However, the parasite did not distinguish between parasitized and unparasitized eggs, so superparasitization was common. Of the 5 accepted species (pink bollworm,Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), cotton bollworm,Heliothis zea (Boddie), tobacco budworm,Heliothis virescens (F.), cabbage looper,Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), and beet armyworm,Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), pink bollworms and cotton bollworms were the most suitable hosts. When all 5 species were offered, the order of preference was as follows: pink bollworms = cabbage loopers > cotton bollworms > tobacco budworms > beet armyworms. In paired preference tests the parasite consistently preferred pink bollworms.