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Production of exclusively male progeny by mated, honey‐fed Trichogramma minutum Riley (Hym., Trichogrammatidae)
Author(s) -
Leatemia J. A.,
Laing J. E.,
Corrigan J. E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of applied entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1439-0418
pISSN - 0931-2048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0418.1995.tb01336.x
Subject(s) - biology , offspring , trichogrammatidae , sperm , mating , trichogramma , spermatheca , botany , host (biology) , zoology , toxicology , parasitoid , ecology , hymenoptera , genetics , pregnancy
Most mated, honey‐fed, female Trichogramma minutum , provided with host eggs of Ephestia kuehniella from eclosion, were shown to produce broods of exclusively male offspring as they aged. Females produced an average of 218.5 ± 69.9 offspring during a reproductive period of > 20 days. Of these offspring, 96.7 ± 59.5 were males that were produced after the mother had ceased to produce female offspring. Females that had shifted to all‐male production were capable of re‐mating and resuming production of female progeny, indicating that either sperm depletion or loss of sperm viability played a role in the shift to all‐male production. However, honey‐fed, mated females that were held without access to hosts for up to 16 days at 25° C or 28 days at 16° C were able to produce female offspring when allowed to parasitize. This indicates that sperm would remain viable in the females' spermatheca for extended periods of time and that sperm depletion was, at least partially, the cause of the shift to all‐male progeny production. Honey‐fed females held without host eggs for up to 8 days at 25° C or 28 days at 16°C had reductions in their initial, 2‐day offspring production of only 10% and 20%, respectively. This could allow for the build‐up of large numbers of effective parasitoids for mass culture or field release.