ICHNEUMON PROMISSORIUS (ERICHSON) (HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE) - FACTORS AFFECTING FECUNDITY, OVIPOSITION, AND LONGEVITY

Ichneumon (=Pterocormus) promissorius (Erichson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneum omidae), a native of Australia, is a pupal parasitoid which searches t he soil surface for host pupation sites, burrows into a pupal gallery, and oviposits in the host pupa. Fecundity and rate of oviposition wer e influenced by the mating status of females, the host from which fema les developed, and the frequency in which females were exposed to host s. Virgin females continued laying eggs many days after mated females had stopped. A preoviposition period of 17 d in mated females did not affect the oviposition curve or the number of eggs laid, suggesting th at the oogenesis is arrested until female wasps are exposed to host pu pae. Female wasps exposed to pupae for 24 h every fifth day lived long er than female wasps continuously exposed to pupae. However, females t hat were continuously exposed to pupae laid more eggs. Virgin females reared on Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) pupae laid fewer eggs than virgin females reared on Helicoverpa tea (Boddie) pupae. These data will be important in evaluating the potential of I. promissorius as a biologic al control agent for pest species in the United States and will be use ful in developing laboratory rearing procedures for I. promissorius.