Effects of honey and flower on the longevity and parasitization of cotesia vestalis haliday (hymenoptera: braconidae) on plutella xylostella (l.) (lepidoptera: plutellidae)
Potential effects of honey and yellow cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) on the longevity
and parasitization of Cotesia vestalis were investigated. Results showed that when comparing
diets from different honey-diluted solutions to water, 50% honey-diluted solution significantly
increased longevity for both male and female parasitoid Cotesia vestalis. Mean longevities of
male and female parasitoids were 10.16 ± 0.59 days and 10.8 ± 0.76 days, respectively. Similar
results were obtained when using yellow cosmos flower (C. sulphureus), 50% honey-diluted
solution, mixed honey and pollen, and honey-pollen to evaluate the longevity of C. vestailis
parasitoids. Moreover, honey-pollen treatment significantly increased the parasitism efficiency
of C. vestalis on the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.) larvae, which gave the highest
mean number of emergent parasitoids per day compared to the control. Results indicated that
diets of honey and yellow cosmos (C. sulphureus) pollen extended longevity and benefitted the
parasitization of C. vestalis.