Egg Maturation and Daily Progeny Production in the Parasitoid, Gronotoma micromorpha (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 2546-2548
Author(s):  
Yajiao Wu ◽  
Yoshihisa Abe

Abstract An ovigeny index, which is the initial egg load divided by the potential lifetime fecundity, was developed for the parasitoid, Gronotoma micromorpha (Perkins), on the host Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). The value obtained for the index was estimated to be 0.54, based on the initial egg load (mean ± SD: 41.0 ± 13.5) observed in the present study and the lifetime fecundity (75.6 ± 32.6) estimated in a previous study. Gronotoma micromorpha was previously regarded as being strictly pro-ovigenic based on daily progeny production data; however, the findings of the present study showed that this parasitoid is prosynovigenic. A 3-d cycle in daily progeny production was previously reported to occur during the lifetime of adult females (6.6 d) in this species. The present study showed that the initial egg load is nearly equal to the total number of eggs deposited in 3 d following adult emergence. Therefore, it is considered that the mature eggs stored during the pupal stage are deposited during the first 3 d after adult emergence and that egg maturation in the adult stage starts on day 1 and requires 3 d to complete in G. micromorpha. To clarify the relationship between the daily progeny production and the initial egg load, a reproductive cycle consisting of maturation, deposition, and depletion of eggs is proposed. In G. micromorpha, the reproductive cycle is considered to occur twice during the female lifetime. Furthermore, it is proposed that other prosynovigenic parasitoid species have a similar reproductive cycle.

Author(s):  
Carolina Manzano ◽  
Eduardo G. Virla ◽  
Maria V. Coll Araoz ◽  
Erica Luft-Albarracin

Abstract The reproductive traits of the mymarid wasp Cosmocomoidea annulicornis (Ogloblin) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) attacking eggs of the sharpshooter Tapajosa rubromarginata (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) were evaluated under laboratory conditions. Bioassays were carried out to estimate the realized fecundity and egg load of females. The ovigeny index was calculated and different biological traits, such as body size, oöcyte length, gaster length and wing length, were analysed to assess significant associations between these traits and the species fitness. In addition, the effect of host availability and feeding on longevity and potential fecundity throughout life and the effect of female age on egg maturation dynamics were assessed. The results showed that C. annulicornis is a strongly synovigenic species. A positive correlation was found between fecundity and longevity of the females and between body size and oöcyte length. Contrary to expected, body size was not related to fecundity and longevity. Females lived significantly longer in the presence of hosts and honey than when they were host-deprived and honey-fed or both host and honey deprived. Host availability had a significant effect on the amount of eggs laid by C. annulicornis females. Female age was negatively associated with oöcyte length. Furthermore, females were able to mature additional eggs as they aged, nevertheless, when host-deprived, senescent females presented significantly less mature eggs than younger ones, suggesting a possible egg oosorption. These results might contribute to a better understanding of the reproductive potential of this species as a biocontrol agent.


1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Abdelrahman

The growing adult female red scale was the most preferred stage for A. melinus, followed by the second growing instar and lastly the male prepupa. The numbers of scale parasitized, the total of eggs laid, the number of eggs per scale, sex ratio and size of the parasites produced were all ranked in the same order. The mean size of parasites produced within the third instar decreased as the number of parasites per host increased. In the absence of the preferred host stages, female A. melinus laid readily in the unpreferred stages. In both A. melinus and A, chrysomphali it was noted that in multi- parasitism pupation, pupal development and adult emergence of all parasites in one host were synchronized. In A. melinus the sex and number of eggs laid per host are influenced by the host's size and quality. When A. melinus laid more than one egg in one host, it laid female eggs first and male eggs later; apparently the spermatheca goes through a period of fatigue, and is incapable of delivering sperm to the eggs descending the oviduct. Sex ratio decreases with increase in number of parasites per host and density of parasite population relative to hosts. The deposition of parasite eggs in a host by one female was observed during a short cycle of oviposition. A. melinus laid its eggs both 'above' and 'below' the body of the scale, whereas A. chrysomphali did so exclusively 'below'. In young mated A. melinus, eggs laid above the body of the scale were females and those below were males, but in old mated females all eggs, wherever laid, were male. Host development stops as soon as a parasite egg is laid. A. melinus avoids laying eggs in already parasitized hosts. The stages of red scale were ranked according to the percentage of mutilated individuals as: first moult (most mutilated), second instar, first instar, third instar, male prepupa and male pupa; second-moult females, egg-maturation stage and crawler-producing stage were unmutilated. A. melinus sometimes partitions her clutch of eggs into two hosts, particularly when host density is high. Partitioning in A. melinus may substitute for the generally accepted practice of super- parasitism, which would not be appropriate because the parasite is able to distinguish between parasitized and unparasitized hosts, is able to sense host density and to distribute her progeny on available hosts. Partitioning is advantageous for biological control. Behaviour of oviposition, mutilation and mutilation feeding in A. melinus are described in detail.


1984 ◽  
Vol 39 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 948-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Kayser ◽  
Ute Krull-Savage

Abstract Incorporation of [14C]5-aminolevulinate and [3H]leucine into cytochrome c, biliprotein and total soluble protein was followed from the last larval instar to the adult stage in Pieris brassicae. The titer of ecdysteroids during the pupal stage was determined with a radioimmunoassay to correlate synthesis of heme products and of protein(s) with adult differentiation. Incorporation of both precursors showed a developmental profile with high synthetic activities in feeding larvae and in pupae after the release of ecdysteroids. Variation of the hormone titer during pupal life differed significantly in males and females. Labeling of cytochrome c by both 14C and 3H was as expected from the variation of its concentration reported in a preceding paper; highest in corporation was around adult emergence. The results demonstrate that i) the accumulation of cytochrome c in the developing adult insect is primarily due to de novo synthesis of both heme and apocytochrome c, performed under coordinate control, and ii) the concentration of 5-aminolevulinate is not rate-limiting in the formation of cytochrome c. Biliverdin IXγ, the major tetrapyrrolic product in this insect, seems to be directly derived from (free) heme and relatively short-lived as deduced from a time-course study. Formation of the bilin, i.e. destruction of heme, increased concomitantly to the initiation of adult differentiation by ecdysteroids in the pupa but later decreased at adult emergence. Synthesis of cytochrome c takes place as a late event during terminal development. Thus, the pathways leading to the two major heme products seem to be differently regulated during development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Arellano ◽  
C. Castillo-Guevara ◽  
C. Huerta ◽  
A. Germán-García ◽  
C. Lara

Obtaining knowledge about a species’ life history and reproductive behaviour is fundamental for understanding its biology, ecology, and potential role in ecosystem services. Here, we focused on the dung beetle species Onthophagus lecontei. Adults were collected in the field and then confined to terrariums, where they were supplied with semi-fresh domestic goat dung (Capra aegagrus Erxleben, 1777). After being paired (26 pairs), the nesting behavior of beetles was observed under laboratory conditions and the preimaginal development of individuals obtained from mating (from the deposition of the egg until the emergence of the adult) was described. Their nesting behavior was found to be characteristic of what is known as pattern I, which comprises building of brood masses, oviposition of a single egg in each brood mass, development of three larval instars, construction of a pupation chamber, pupal stage and adult emergence. Both sexes were involved in the handling of dung, tunnel construction, and mass nest elaboration. Pairs built from one to seven brood masses. The pre-nesting period (feeding) lasted 16 days; the egg stage two days, the larval period 22 days; the pupal period 11 days and the imagoes four days, after which the adults emerged. Our results are discussed and compared with other species in the genus. However, our knowledge of this dung beetle is still limited, and further studies are required in all areas of its biology.


1987 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Davis Martin ◽  
G. A. Herzog

The life history of the tobacco flea beetle, Epitrix hirtipennis (Melsheimer) (= Epitrix parvula Fab.) was studied under the controlled conditions of 27 ± 2.8°C, 80 ± 6% and a 14L:10D photophase. Eggs matured in ca. 4 days, the larval stage, including 3 instars, developed in 13 days, prepupal development took 3 days and the pupal stage lasted approximately 5 days. There was a 24 day interval between oviposition and adult emergence. Females laid 3.1 eggs/day with a 13 day period between adult emergence and first oviposition. The mean number of total eggs/female was 138.6 ± 14.7. Female oviposition continued until a few days before death and adult longevity was approximately 70 days. A visual means of distinguishing between male and female beetles was also developed.


1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 1211-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Heming

During the propupal and pupal stages of Frankliniella fusca and Haplothrips verbasci, each leg consists of coxa, femur, and tibiotarsus.The adult pretarsus, tarsomeres, and tibial gland of F. fusca arise during the pupal stage through morphogenesis of the distal tibiotarsal epidermis. These structures become functional at the time of adult emergence on the completion of cuticle deposition. Most leg epidermal cells degenerate soon thereafter.The imaginal tarsal depressor muscle develops during the pupal and pharate adult stages through fusion and differentiation of myoblasts originating elsewhere in the body. Myofibrils of the larval pretarsal depressor muscle disappear during the propupal stage but reappear during the pupal and pharate adult stages with a different, adult configuration.At the larval–propupal apolysis, the larval restraining tendons detach at both ends from the larval cuticle, contract, and, throughout metamorphosis, nestle between the epidermis of unguitractor apodeme and tibiotarsus. During the pupal stage the tendons rotate transversely 90° and grow laterally through addition of new material to their sides.In H. verbasci, completion of these events requires an additional pupal stage.Leg metamorphosis in thrips is compared with that occurring in other insects and additional remarks are made on the origin of holometabolism in Thysanoptera.Chez la pronymphe et la nymphe de Frankliniella fusca et d'Haplothrips verbasci, chaque patte est constituée d'une coxa, d'un fémur et d'un tibio-tarse.


1986 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 1063-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.B. Orr ◽  
J.S. Russin ◽  
D.J. Boethel

AbstractThe behavior, reproductive capability, and longevity of Telenomus calvus Johnson, a phoretic egg parasitoid of the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say), were examined in the laboratory. Telenomus calvus females were observed at 25 different locations on hosts’ bodies; preferred sites were pronota and femora. Attachment to hosts was facilitated by greatly enlarged arolia. Parasitoids dismounted from hosts at the time of oviposition to parasitize egg masses. Production of female progeny by parasitoids in phoretic association with hosts peaked on the 1st day after adult emergence, then declined steadily until day 6; male progeny production remained relatively low and constant over the same period. The mean (± SE) number of progeny produced by T. calvus females was 22.4 ± 3.0. Such a small egg complement enabled most females not in phoretic association, and presented with a fresh egg mass daily, to oviposit all or nearly all of their eggs in the first host egg mass encountered. The intrinsic rate of natural increase for T. calvus in phoretic association was estimated as 0.149 ♀ ♀−1 day−1, resulting in a doubling time of 4.65 days. Longevity on non-ovipositing females with access to honey was 33.7 ± 1.1 days, but declined sharply to 5.7 ± 0.4 days when in phoretic association with hosts. Pre-imaginal development of T. calvus was restricted to host eggs that were ≤12h old, despite continued observed oviposition attempts in older host masses. These results are discussed with regard to the biology of T. calvus as a phoretic parasitoid and to its importance as a parasitoid of P. maculiventris in Louisiana.


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