A comparison of methodologies for the assessment of host preference of the gregarious egg parasitoid Trichogramma platneri

The innate preference of Trichogramma platneri for the eggs of six host species (Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), Cydia pomonella (L.), Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), Manduca sexta (L.), and Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier)) was evaluated as the first host accepted by an individual female parasitoid when eggs were presented simultaneously. Selective exploitation of the same hosts by T. platneri was evaluated in no-choice, paired-choice, and multiple-choice tests, using number of parasitoids emerged, proportion of female offspring, and proportion of time spent on host eggs as different measures of preference. T. platneri showed a strong innate preference for C. pomonella and M. sexta. H. zea and M. sexta were the most preferred hosts and S. cerealella the least preferred, in the no-choice and choice tests. The number of progeny emerged and proportion of female offspring were equally suitable measures of host preference for T. platneri. Although no-choice and choice tests provided very similar preference ranking for T. platneri, a polyphagous species, the no-choice tests appeared poorer at separating hosts that were close in rank and multiple-choice tests were considered likely to be more realistic for more specialized control agents.