Influence of Rearing Host on Adult Size and Ovipositional Behavior of Mass Produced FemaleTrichogramma minutumRiley andTrichogramma pretiosumRiley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae),

The size (body length) ofTrichogramma pretiosumRiley andTrichogramma minutumRiley adult females is, to a great extent, dependent on the size of the host egg on which the insect developed. The fecundity of femaleTrichogrammawas dependent on their body size. Two kinds of artificial eggs were used, wax artificial eggs and stretched plastic artificial eggs. Females reared on different hosts were induced to oviposit on artificial eggs with an oviposition stimulus.T. pretiosumreared onHelicoverpa zea(Boddie) andManduca sexta(Linnaeus) eggs oviposited in 80.0–83.3% of the wax artificial eggs compared with the 49.5% of the wax artificial eggs oviposited in when the parasitoid was reared onSitotroga cerealella(Olivier) eggs.T. minutumreared onH. zeaeggs, an artificial diet in wax artificial eggs, orS. cerealellaeggs oviposited in 76.2, 89.3, or 30.9%, respectively, of stretched plastic artificial eggs.