Author
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Grissell, Edward |
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Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 12/4/2000 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Stored product pest cause millions of dollars a year in damages. A new species of parasitic wasp was discovered attacking the Indianmeal moth in in culled figs in California. This wasp is described and its biology studied. Eash wasp kills an average of about 130 meal moth larvae during its lifespan, and the wasp is an effective biological control agent of the moth. This information will be useful for workers and pest managers working with stored product pests. Technical Abstract: Psilochalcis brevilata Grissell and Johnson, new species, is described and illustrated based on specimens from a laboratory culture reared on Plodia interpunctella pupae. This species, isolated from a culled fig warehouse in central California, is the first Psilochalcis associated with stored product pyralids. The karyotype of P. brevilata showed a haploid chromosome number (n) of 6, the highest in value for the family Chalcidida Female P. brevilata had relatively long reproductive lives (39.3 dfays), producing an average of 3.3 progeny/day for a total of 128.7 progeny per female. |
