The relationship between egg load and fecundity among Trichogramma parasitoids

1. The relationships between parasitoid egg load, size, and age (3–72 h) for Trichogramma minutum, T. platneri, and T. pretiosum, reared from two factitious hosts, Ephestia kuehniella and Sitotroga cerealella, were evaluated to test the hypothesis that 24‐h egg load can be used to estimate the fecundity of Trichogramma parasitoids. 2. Egg load increased in relation to female age over the first 3 days of adult life for all three Trichogramma species to a mean egg storage capacity of 46.7 eggs for T. minutum, 41.1 for T. pretiosum, and 35.7 for T. platneri. At 24 h of age, T. minutum had matured enough eggs to fill 67% of its storage capacity, in comparison with 74% for T. pretiosum and 91% for T. platneri. There was a positive relationship between egg load and parasitoid size for all ages of the three Trichogramma species reared from both hosts (with the exception of T. platneri at 3 h post emergence), accounting for 14–69% of the variance in egg load. 3. The potential fecundity, realised (3 day cumulative) fecundity, and oviposition rate (potential fecundity/longevity) of T. platneri were all related linearly to size‐dependent variation in 24‐h egg load, but only the realised fecundity of T. pretiosum, and none of the reproductive characteristics of T. minutum. It is suggested that 24‐h egg load may not be an accurate measure of egg storage capacity in parasitoids and should be used cautiously to represent fecundity. 4. The potential fecundity of seven Trichogramma species reared from E. kuehniella varied from 55 to 150, but neither potential fecundity nor oviposition rate was related significantly to egg load (represented by eggs laid during first 24 h). Selection to avoid egg depletion in the attack of gregarious hosts appears most likely to account for the variation in potential fecundity among Trichogramma species.