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Interspecific competition between Snellenius manilae and Meteorus pulchricornis, larval parasitoids of Spodoptera litura

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2015

W.-T. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
S.-Y. Hwang*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: +886-4-22840363 Fax: +886-4-22875024 E-mail: oleander@dragon.nchu.edu.tw

Abstract

Snellenius manilae (Ashmead) and Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) are larval endoparasitoids of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Both species preferentially parasitize early-instar S. litura and occupy similar ecological niches. Therefore, competition between the two species may occur. In this study, intrinsic competition and cage experiments were conducted to discuss the interactions between S. manilae and M. pulchricornis. The results indicated that in intrinsic competition, M. pulchricornis was always the dominant species. In cage experiments, when the total number of parasitoids was four, the parasitism rates following the release of one species were significantly higher than the release of two species simultaneously. In addition, parasitism rate of eight M. pulchricornis was also significantly higher than the parasitism rate of the treatment released four S. manilae and four M. pulchricornis simultaneously. Therefore, competition occurs between S. manilae and M. pulchricornis, and M. pulchricornis is typically the superior of the two species. The use of M. pulchricornis as a biological agent for S. litura should be considered.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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