EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF 4 COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE NATURAL ENEMIES

The post-shipment quality of four species of natural enemies, Encarsia formosa Gahan (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neur optera: Chrysopidae), and Hippodamia convergens Guerin (Coleoptera: Co ccinellidae), was evaluated from shipments from 10 companies ordered o ver 2.5 years at three locations. Evaluations included the numbers rec eived, emergence rates, sex ratio, survivorship, species identity, rep roduction, and parasitism. In general, natural enemies arrived on time in protective shipping containers. There were considerable difference s in the numbers received, depending on the company supplying the natu ral enemy and time of year. There were also differences among companie s for survivorship and emergence rates of some natural enemies. Chryso pids other than C. carnea were shipped and cannibalism by larvae reduc ed the numbers received. Approximately 20% of coccinellids were found to be parasitized. Using average characteristics of H. convergens ship ments, an estimated 75-508 reproductively active females would be rece ived from an order of 1000 beetles. If confirmed by further study, inf ormation such as this could provide customers an ''industry standard'' for the expected number of natural enemies in a given reproductive or other physiological state. (C) 1998 Academic Press.