COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF ARTIFICIALLY REARED VERSUSHOST-REARED DIAPETIMORPHA-INTROITA (CRESSON) (HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE) WASPS

Diapetimorpha introita (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a nativ e ectoparasitoid of Spodoptera spp. pupae, was reared in the laborator y on an artificial diet devoid of any insect host components. Diet-rea red wasps demonstrated a propensity to search for and parasitize natur al hosts in a field cage trial. Longevity of the diet-reared wasps was comparable with the longevity of wasps reared on host pupae. Survival rate of D. introita was 61.3% when reared on diet and 76.3% when rear ed on host pupae. Wasps reared on the artificial diet had longer devel opmental times, reduced fecundity, and reduced adult weights compared to wasps reared on host pupae. These studies suggest that future resea rch efforts should focus on increasing fecundity and weight of diet-re ared wasps and decreasing the mortality and developmental time of wasp s reared on the artificial diet. The ability to rear D. introita on an inexpensive, artificial diet significantly enhances the potential of mass rearing this parasitoid for inundative releases against Spodopter a spp.