A Method for Mass-rearing Aphidius gifuensis(Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae)

[Objective] This study presents a method for mass rearing of Aphidius gifuensis, a dominant endoparasitoid of Myzus persicae on tobacco in Southwest China. [Method] The tobacco cultivar Honghuadajinyuan(Nicotiana tabacum) was used as the host plant and M. persicae was the host insect. In a greenhouse, tobacco seedlings were reared in plastic trays. The seedlings at three-true-leaf stage were inoculated with two to three aphids per plant using aphid source with a parasitism rate of 47% ±3.9%. [Result] By this inoculation method, the aphids and parasites were simultaneously inoculated on host plants. After approximately 25 d of rearing, we were able to produce 82.5±5.17 aphid mummies per tobacco seedling. A total of 445 500 aphid mummies were produced in one greenhouse(36 rearing trays per greenhouse) during an approximately 50-day rearing period. The emergence rate was 93.4% ±2.76%, and 54% of the mummies were females. [Conclusion] The demonstrated technological feasibility of using tobacco seedlings for the mass rearing of A. gifuensis increases the potential for the biological control of M. persicae.

A Method for Mass-rearing Aphidius gifuensis （Hymenoptera： Aphidiidae）

Tobacco seedling Myzus persicae Aphidius gifuensis Mass rearing