State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Crop Pests in Guilin, Ministry of Agriculture, Guilin, China.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 18;9(1):2202. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38087-0.
Parasitoids are insects (usually wasps or flies) that lay eggs within or on other insects (their hosts). Host-feeding parasitoids lay eggs to parasitize the host and feed directly on the host for nourishment. Temperature is the most critical factor affecting insect behavioral responses. Few studies have focused on the impacts of variable temperatures across different life stages on the behaviors of host-feeding parasitoids. This study investigated the effects of temperature experienced during the preadult and adult stages on the life history traits and life table parameters of females of a host-feeding parasitoid, Eretmocerus hayati. Our results show that the temperatures experienced during the preadult and adult stages significantly change life history traits (immature development, adult longevity, host feeding and fecundity). Increasing the preadult temperature resulted in shorter development times for immature stages of the parasitoid, and decreasing the temperature during the adult stage increased reproduction and longevity. Most importantly, we found that host-feeding events changed with temperature rather than life stage. The daily host-feeding ability of the parasitoid increased with increasing temperature at all temperatures except the stress temperature (34 °C). Furthermore, switching temperatures at the immature stage and adult stage can increase the values of life table parameters, with the highest intrinsic rate of increase (r) occurring in the 30/26 °C treatment. This study provides new insight into the mass rearing of parasitic natural enemies.
寄生蜂是一种昆虫（通常为黄蜂或蝇类），它们将卵产在其他昆虫（宿主）体内或体表。取食性寄生蜂产卵以寄生宿主，并直接以宿主为食获取营养。温度是影响昆虫行为反应的最关键因素。很少有研究关注不同生命阶段的温度变化对取食性寄生蜂行为的影响。本研究调查了预蛹期和成虫期经历的温度对取食性寄生蜂，Eretmocerus hayati 雌蜂的生活史特征和生命表参数的影响。我们的研究结果表明，预蛹期和成虫期经历的温度显著改变了生活史特征（幼期发育、成虫寿命、取食宿主和产卵量）。升高预蛹期温度会缩短寄生蜂幼期的发育时间，而降低成虫期温度会增加繁殖和寿命。最重要的是，我们发现取食行为随温度而非生命阶段而变化。在除胁迫温度（34°C）外的所有温度下，寄生蜂的每日取食能力都随温度升高而增加。此外，在预蛹期和成虫期改变温度可以提高生命表参数的值，其中在 30/26°C 处理下内禀增长率（r）最高。本研究为寄生性天敌的大规模饲养提供了新的见解。
