The reproductive potential and the longevity of Telenomus podisi Ashmead egg parasitoid was studied in the laboratory. The parasitoid was reared in eggs of the stink bug hosts Euschistus heros (F.), Piezodorus guildinii (West.) and Nezara viriula (L.). The reproductive capacity and longevity of the T. podisi females was significantly different on the three species. The higher production of progeny occurred on the first 10 d of female´s life in eggs of E. heros and P. guildinii. The parasitism on N. viridula eggs was very low (8.1%), with only 5 parasitoids completing their development. In the progeny, young females produced higher number of females than males, while the opposite occurred with older females. The parasitoid sex ratio in E. heros and P. guildinii hosts was 0.67 and 0.61, respectively, and the mean fertility per females was of 211.0 and 76.1 descendents, respectively. The longevity of T. podisi females was different on each host species, with an average of 19.9, 30.9 and 40.6 d when they parasitized eggs of P. guildinii, E. heros and N. viridula, respectively. The longevity of males was longer than females, and it was similar in the three hosts, with mean time of 32.0, 34.5 and 43.5 d, respectively. The results suggest that E. heros and P. guildinii are more adequate hosts to T. podisi development.
Insecta; Pentatomidae; biology; biological control; stink bugs; parasitoids
