Shen Zhen, Huang Mi, Tariq Haneef, Wei Jian, Kamfwa Kelvin, de Freitas Bueno Adeney, Tang Liang-De, Zang Lian-Sheng
State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticides, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China.
China Aid Zambia Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center, Jilin Agricultural University, Lusaka, Zambia.
Pest Manag Sci. 2025 Sep 10. doi: 10.1002/ps.70208.
The parasitoid Chelonus bifoveolatus is a promising biocontrol agent against the invasive fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda, but its practical application hinges on cost-effective mass rearing. This study compares the biological performance and production economics of Ch. bifoveolatus reared on two factitious hosts (Corcyra cephalonica and Spodoptera litura) under controlled laboratory conditions.
Our results showed that Ch. bifoveolatus reared on S. litura had higher parasitism rates (86.63% versus 70.88%), an increased female offspring proportion (47.90% versus 32.08%), shorter developmental time (33.22 versus 69.72 days), longer female adult longevity (29.16 versus 17.73 days), and larger parasitoid body size than those reared on C. cephalonica. The pupation rate of Ch. bifoveolatus was higher when reared on C. cephalonica than on S. litura, but the emergence rate of Ch. bifoveolatus was similar between those reared on C. cephalonica and S. litura. The production costs for 100 parasitoid individuals were strikingly lower for C. cephalonica, representing 1.78- and 11.38-fold reductions compared with S. litura and FAW, respectively. The production efficiency of Ch. bifoveolatus using the factitious host C. cephalonica (20,400 individuals) exhibited a 44% increase in overall parasitoid yield relative to S. litura (13,600 individuals), and a 91% increase compared with cultivation on FAW (10,400 individuals).
Despite some trade-offs in parasitoid fitness, rearing Ch. bifoveolatus on C. cephalonica offers substantial cost savings compared with rearing on Spodoptera hosts. These findings support the use of C. cephalonica as a practical, scalable host for augmentative biological control programs targeting FAW, balancing the economic feasibility without sacrificing significant field performance. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.
寄生蜂双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 是防治入侵害虫草地贪夜蛾 Spodoptera frugiperda 的一种很有前景的生物防治剂，但其实际应用取决于经济高效的大量饲养。本研究在可控实验室条件下，比较了在两种替代寄主（米蛾 Corcyra cephalonica 和斜纹夜蛾 Spodoptera litura）上饲养的双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 的生物学性能和生产经济性。
我们的结果表明，在斜纹夜蛾上饲养的双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 具有更高的寄生率（86.63% 对 70.88%）、雌性后代比例增加（47.90% 对 32.08%）、发育时间更短（33.22 天对 69.72 天）、雌性成虫寿命更长（29.16 天对 17.73 天），且寄生蜂体型比在米蛾上饲养的更大。双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 在米蛾上饲养时的化蛹率高于在斜纹夜蛾上饲养时，但在米蛾和斜纹夜蛾上饲养的双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 的羽化率相似。100 头寄生蜂个体的生产成本，米蛾饲养的显著更低，分别比斜纹夜蛾和草地贪夜蛾饲养的降低了 1.78 倍和 11.38 倍。使用替代寄主米蛾饲养双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 的生产效率（20400 头个体），相对于斜纹夜蛾饲养（13600 头个体），寄生蜂总产量提高了 44%，与草地贪夜蛾饲养（10400 头个体）相比提高了 91%。
尽管在寄生蜂适应性方面存在一些权衡，但与用夜蛾科寄主饲养相比，用米蛾饲养双凹 Chelonus bifoveolatus 可大幅节省成本。这些发现支持将米蛾用作针对草地贪夜蛾的增殖生物防治计划的一种实用、可扩展的寄主，在不牺牲显著田间性能的情况下平衡经济可行性。© 2025 化学工业协会
