Fecundity,reproductive rate,longevity, and intrinsic rate of increase of an aphidiid parasitoidLysiphlebia mirzai

A life-table was constructed for a little known aphidiid waspLysiphlebia mirzai, a parasitoid of cereal aphid,Rhopalosiphum maidis. The female parasitoid survived 6.4 ± 1.17 (SD) days and oviposited intensively 4.0 ± 0.47 days. The total fecundity rate, R_t, was 169.2 ± 6.94 mummies/female and net reproductive rate, R_o, was 92.70 female offspring/female. The intrinsic total fecundity rate, r_t, and intrinsic rate of natural increase, r_m, the finite rate of total fecundity, λ^t, and finite rate of increase, λ^m, was 0.27048, 0.24155, 1.31059 and 1.27322 respectively. The mean generation time (18.75 days) and doubling time of the population (2.87 days) was slightly higher than other aphidiids studied so far. The proportion of female progenies decreased significantly on the successive oviposition days.