The effects of carbohydrates upon the survival and reproduction of adult female Pimpla turionellae L. (Hym., Ichneumonidae)

In this study the effects of 23 carbohydrates belonging to various groups u pon the survival egg production and egg of female adult Pimpla turionellae L. were investigated. The best results among the carbohydrates tested was o btained with sucrose which was also employed as control. Glucose, maltose, trehalose and melezitose on the other hand showed no significant effect. Th e egg production was observed to be unaffected by glucose and maltose altho ugh it showed significant increase with trehalose and significant decrease with melezitose. Fructose and sorbitol caused a significant decrease in the survival of the insect. Fructose and sorbitol did not have any significant effect upon egg production whereas galactose caused a significant decrease . With the exception of galactose, no carbohydrate caused any significant e ffect upon egg hatching. Although they did not produce any eggs the female insects Survived for 13.17, 15.13, 11.58 and 15.83 days in mannose, melibio se, raffinose and mannitol, respectively. The shortest life span was observ ed in arabinose followed by alpha -methyl-D-glucoside, dulcitol, rhamnose, cellobiose, xylose, starch, lactose, sarbose, ribose and glycogen.