Effects of Envenomation on Survival and Development of the Host-Parasitoid System of Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Effects of Envenomation on Survival and Development of the Host-Parasitoid System of Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Ferzana Bhatti1, Fiaz Hussain2, Zain ul Abdin1*, Muhammad Arshad1, Saqi Kosar Abbas2 and Muhammad Zeeshan Shabbir3
ABSTRACT
The role of venom injection by an ectoparasitoid, Bracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in inducing paralysis and developmental arrest in its host, Galleria mellonella (L.) (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera) was studied. Bioassays were performed with microinjections carrying crude and diluted venom and secretion of Dufour’s gland of B. hebetor into healthy and mature host larvae. To observe the effects of venom injection on development of parasitoid progeny, freshly laid eggs of the parasitoid were transferred from stung hosts onto non-stung hosts. Venom caused 100% mortality of the host even in diluted forms; Dufour’s gland secretion did not cause any significant mortality. The secretions injected by an ovipositing female not only contributed to a reduction in egg mortality but also positively affected survival and development of immature insect parasitoids. These will be helpful to explore novel bioactive molecules useful for sustainable insect biological control programes, especially from the insect parasitoids of Pyralidae (Lepidoptera).
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