Parasitoid Density and Arena Size Effects on Progeny Production of Anaphes iole Girault (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae)

Anaphes iole Girault is a native, solitary egg parasitoid of Lygus bugs in North America. Ongoing research is considering factors that may lead to efficient mass rearing of A. iole for augmentative biological control. This study examined the effects of A. iole female density and arena size on progeny production. Production increased by a factor of 2.1 as parasitoid density increased from 5 to 10 and from 10 to 20 females per 8 Larena (rearing cage) with a host patch containing from 1,500 to 2,000 eggs of Lygus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae). Sex ratios of mature progeny did not differ significantly between parasitoid densities of 10 versus 20 females. Arena size (≈1, 2, 4, or 8 L cages) had no effect on progeny production when 20 females were confined to the same cage. This research suggests that little or no measurable interference will occur between ovipositing A. iole females on shared host patches and cage size can be varied to increase rearing capacity.