Biological characteristic of Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitoid on the black-head caterpillar (Opisina arenosella)

Abstract

The parasitic wasp Bracon hebetor is a common natural enemy in coconut field which damaged by Black - headed caterpillar (BHC) in Ben Tre, and it’s a potential biological control agent of Black - head caterpillar. This study was conducted aims to determine the biological characteristics of B. hebetor parasitoid on the 6-instar BHC larvae. The experiments were carried out at the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agronomy, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh city under laboratory condition at a constant temperature 28 ± 2°C, humidity 70 ± 5%, and photoperiod of 12L: 8D. According to the data, the egg stage of B. hebetor was 1.7 ± 0.45 days, whereas the larval stage was 2.2 ± 0.43 days. The pre-pupal stage took an average of 1.3 ± 0.45 days, while the pupal stage of B. hebetor took an average of 4.5 ± 0.51 days. The average development time for B. hebetor males was 9.9 ± 0.86 days, and 10.0 ± 0.92 days for females. Female of B. hebetor can lays 48 – 1,389 eggs/female, and 884 eggs/female on average. Male B. hebetor have an average lifespan of 16.9 ± 8.96 days, whereas female have a lifespan of 25.4 ± 9.98 days.