A comparative approach for life history and functional response demonstrates similar survival strategies for Trichogramma evanescens and T. pintoi

Adil Tonğa, Mustafa Erkek, Jamin Ali, Yaghoub Fathipour, Nihal Özder

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Egg parasitoids are important biological control agents of lepidopteran pests of agricultural crops. Trichogramma evanescens Westwood and T. pintoi Voegele (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) are egg parasitoids with worldwide importance. The parasitoid selection necessitates comparative assessment of the life table traits and functional response analysis to provide insights into their effectiveness in pest control. In this study, we examined their life table traits including survivorship and reproductivity, and functional response and associated parameters i.e., attack coefficient and handling time. RESULTS: Life table parameters, using age-stage, two-sex theory, revealed similar survival and reproductive strategies for both species. For example, the female longevity, oviposition days and fecundity did not differ between both species. Exceptionally, the male longevity of T. evanescens was shorter than that of T. pintoi. The population growth parameters such as gross reproductive rate (GRR), net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), and mean generation time (T) did not differ between species. The polynomial logistic regression yielded a type III functional response and a non-linear least square analysis revealed different attack coefficient and similar handling time. However, their parasitism rate differed between the lowest (five eggs) and highest (80 eggs) initial host egg densities such that T. evanescens had a lower parasitism rate at the lowest density and higher parasitism rate at the highest density. CONCLUSION: The similarity in survival strategies and minor differences in host handling of both parasitoids are discussed in terms of relevance to applied biological control applications and evolutionary traits.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5630-5639
Number of pages10
JournalPest Management Science
Volume80
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • attack coefficient
  • handling time
  • life table
  • parasitism efficiency
  • population growth
  • survival

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Insect Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A comparative approach for life history and functional response demonstrates similar survival strategies for Trichogramma evanescens and T. pintoi'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this