Oophagous parasitoid and hyperparasitoid of Halys dentatus Fabr. (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae).
Dhiman S. C., Yadav Y. K.
Author Affiliation: Entomology Research Lab., Department of Zoology, M.S. (PG) College, Saharanpur - 247 001, India.
Uttar Pradesh Journal of Zoology 23 : 191-196
Abstract : Some 392 H. dentatus [H. dentata] egg masses were collected from January 2002 to April 2003 from its host trees (including Acacia arabica [Acacia nilotica], Azadirachta indica and Mangifera indica) in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Telenomus sp., an oophagous egg parasitoid, was found parasitizing H. dentatus eggs, while Aphanogmus sp. is reported as a hyperparasitoid of Telenomus sp. for the first time. A maximum (100%) parasitization of eggs was observed in January to March and in December. Minimum parasitization (22.73%) was recorded in April. Overall parasitization was 58.68% and overall hyperparasitization was 43.26%. To analyse the frequency of parasitization within a population, a H. dentatus population was observed. H. dentatus population was maximum from August to October, and this was also the active breeding period of the bug. During these months, 54-75% parasitization and 22-49% hyperparasitization were recorded. H. dentatus hibernated in late October and came out of hibernation in late March or in early April. Parasitization and hyperparasitization at this time was 100 and 66.67%, respectively. Telenomus sp. was responsible for the parasitization of all parasitized H. dentatus eggs since no other egg parasitoid emerged. Telenomus sp. proved to be a potential biological control agent of H. dentatus, but Aphanogmus sp. decreased parasitization to some extent.