SELECTION OF TRICHOGRAMMA SPECIES FOR CONTROLLING THE DIAMONDBACK MOTH PLUTELLA XYLOSTELLA(L.)

Abstract  The parasitization of twenty-nine species or strains of Trichogramma and Trichogrammatoidea on the eggs of diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L.), was tested in the laboratory. Five indexes were evaluated: proportion of female wasps of egg-laying, the number of parasitized host eggs by each female wasp, survival ratio of progeny in each host-egg, emergence ratio and sex ratio of offsprings. The results showed that 23 species or strains were able to parasitize the eggs of DBM and significant difference was found not only between species but also between strains. According to the five indexes, T. trijapitzni (from former USSR), T. pretiosum (from USA), T. nagarkattii (from France), Trichogrammatoidea bactrae( from Taiwan, China), T. chilonis (from Guangdong, China), and T . sp. (from France) showed better performance, among which T. pretiosum, Trichogrammatoidea bactrae and T. chilonis (Guangdong)were considered as suitable candidates to control DBM in the field.