Abstract

The ectoparasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is one of the most important biological control agents of several Lepidopteran larvae both in farm and storage. It is mass produced annually in large numbers in the country's insecurities. Producers have to store it to gain enough of this wasp and release it at the right time. Storage at low temperatures is known as a valuable method for increasing the natural enemies' survival and providing a sufficient and stable supply of them for use in biological control programs. In this study H. hebetor pupae were stored at 0 (control), 1, 3, 7 and 15 days at 4 °C and effect of cold storage period on appeared adults biological and reproductive parameters (such as embryonic, larvae and pupal period, egg hatching, rate of parasitism, emergence rate, fecundity and sex ratio) at 28 ± 1 °C, 65 ± 5% RH and 16:8 h L: D (conditions for recording the results after the storage periods in the cold) on 3rd instar of Galleria mellonella L. larva were investigated. 20 replicates were considered for each treatment. Analysis was performed based on a completely randomized design with one-way analysis and comparing the mean on Duncan using SAS. The results showed that the parasitism and emergence rate had a significant difference between the control and cold treatments. The highest parasitism and emergence rate were 93.33 ± 2.52 and 97.99 ± 1.43 and the lowest were 80.00 ± 2.83 and 82.64 ± 2.61 in control and 3-day treatment respectively (P<0.05). The difference between the control and other treatments was not significant. The highest and lowest fecundity were 17.07 ± 1.29 and 12.12 ± 1.49 in control and 3-day treatment respectively (P>0.05). The lowest developmental period was in control (10/93 ±0.1 days) and the highest was in 15-day treatment (11.36 ± 0.1 days) (P>0.05). The results indicate that the storage of H. hebetor pupae at 4 °C for 2 weeks did not have a negative effect on the biological parameters of the adults and would not have a significant reduction in their performance after release