ARS | Publication request: Suitability of immature emerald ash borers to Tetrastichus planipennisi (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 20, 2010
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Since first detected in Michigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), a buprestid native to Asia, has killed millions of ash trees in northeastern North America and continues to expand into new areas. Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a gregarious larval endoparasitoid of EAB, is one of three EAB-parasitoid species from China being released in the U.S. for biological control of this invasive pest. In order to develop an effective rearing method to produce large numbers of parasitoids for field releases against EAB, information on the suitability of different immature stages of the host is urgently needed. We determined that T. planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) can utilize second, third and fourth instar emerald ash borer larvae as well as J-shaped larvae and prepupae, but not pupae. We also found that T. planipennisi produces more offspring from large hosts than small hosts.