RUAN , Chang-Chun

Trichogramma parasitoids are important biological control agents for insect pest management. However, efficient means for mass production of Trichogramma parasitoids are needed, particularly for T. ostriniae, which often fail to form emergence holes on host eggs of Chinese oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi, because of the hard chorion. In the...

BACKGROUND Encarsia formosa Gahan is the most important parasitoid exploited for the control of whitefly pests of vegetable crops. However, the non-target effects of recently developed insecticides for controlling whiteflies toward this biocontrol agent is little documented. Here we evaluated the susceptibility of E. formosa adults and...

Diapause variation is a key factor affecting the development and success of parasitoids employed as biological control agents. Trichogramma dendrolimi Matsumura is mass-reared for biocontrol purposes in several countries around the world. Here we investigated the rate of diapause induction in three populations of T. dendrolimi from different...

Parasitoids can utilize the nutrition of host eggs to culture their own offsprings. Host qualities, including size, age, and species, influence parasitism preference and fitness of the parasitoid offsprings. However, an interesting question here is whether the parasitoids have the ability of recognizing fertilized and nonfertilized host eggs....

Autoparasitoids are important biocontrol agents for controlling hemipteran pests. Females of these wasps lay fertilized eggs in whitefly nymphs (primary host) which develop as females. The males develop as hyperparasitoids from unfertilized eggs on conspecific or other primary parasitoid species (as secondary hosts). To date, the effects of...

BACKGROUNDTrichogramma dendrolimi Matsumura is widely used as a biological control agent for control of lepidopteran agricultural pests in China and can be successfully reared using the large eggs of the Chinese silkworm, Antheraea pernyi. In this study, biological parameters of diapaused, non-diapaused, and cold-stored T. dendrolimi were...

Host quality varies with size, age, and species, and influences the parasitism preference of parasitoids and the fitness of their offspring. However, it is still unclear whether parasitoids have the ability to recognize fertilized and unfertilized host eggs. We studied the performance of three Trichogramma species, T. japonicum, T. chilonis,...