Economics trumps biology: Corcyra cephalonica as the optimal factitious host for cost-effective mass production of Chelonus bifoveolatus, a key parasitoid of Spodoptera frugiperda.

IF 3.8 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY

Pest Management Science Pub Date : 2025-09-10 DOI:10.1002/ps.70208

Zhen Shen,Mi Huang,Haneef Tariq,Jian Wei,Kelvin Kamfwa,Adeney de Freitas Bueno,Liang-De Tang,Lian-Sheng Zang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

BACKGROUND The parasitoid Chelonus bifoveolatus is a promising biocontrol agent against the invasive fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda, but its practical application hinges on cost-effective mass rearing. This study compares the biological performance and production economics of Ch. bifoveolatus reared on two factitious hosts (Corcyra cephalonica and Spodoptera litura) under controlled laboratory conditions. RESULTS Our results showed that Ch. bifoveolatus reared on S. litura had higher parasitism rates (86.63% versus 70.88%), an increased female offspring proportion (47.90% versus 32.08%), shorter developmental time (33.22 versus 69.72 days), longer female adult longevity (29.16 versus 17.73 days), and larger parasitoid body size than those reared on C. cephalonica. The pupation rate of Ch. bifoveolatus was higher when reared on C. cephalonica than on S. litura, but the emergence rate of Ch. bifoveolatus was similar between those reared on C. cephalonica and S. litura. The production costs for 100 parasitoid individuals were strikingly lower for C. cephalonica, representing 1.78- and 11.38-fold reductions compared with S. litura and FAW, respectively. The production efficiency of Ch. bifoveolatus using the factitious host C. cephalonica (20,400 individuals) exhibited a 44% increase in overall parasitoid yield relative to S. litura (13,600 individuals), and a 91% increase compared with cultivation on FAW (10,400 individuals). CONCLUSION Despite some trade-offs in parasitoid fitness, rearing Ch. bifoveolatus on C. cephalonica offers substantial cost savings compared with rearing on Spodoptera hosts. These findings support the use of C. cephalonica as a practical, scalable host for augmentative biological control programs targeting FAW, balancing the economic feasibility without sacrificing significant field performance. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

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经济学胜过生物学：对于具有成本效益的大规模生产双头螯虾（chonus bifoveolatus）来说，头尾螯虾是最理想的人工宿主，双头螯虾是一种重要的寄生昆虫。

寄生物双歧切隆（Chelonus bifoveolatus）是一种很有前途的防治秋粘虫（Spodoptera frugiperda）的生物防治剂，但其实际应用取决于大规模养殖的成本效益。本研究比较了在实验室控制条件下，两种人工寄主（头尾圆尾蛾和斜纹夜蛾）饲养的双头圆尾圆蛾的生物学性能和生产经济性。结果结果表明，双角蠓寄生率（86.63%比70.88%）较高，雌虫比例（47.90%比32.08%）较高，发育时间（33.22比69.72 d）较短，雌虫寿命（29.16比17.73 d）较长，寄生蜂体型较大。饲养双头蠓的化蛹率高于饲养斜纹蠓的化蛹率，但羽化率与饲养斜纹蠓相似。头螺的100个拟虫个体的生产成本显著低于斜螺（S. litura）和FAW，分别降低1.78和11.38倍。利用假寄主C. cephalonica（20400只）生产双峰顶蠓的总寄生蜂产量比斜纹蠓（13600只）提高44%，比在FAW上栽培（10400只）提高91%。结论尽管在寄生蜂适合度方面存在一定的权衡，但与在夜蛾宿主上饲养相比，在头腹蠓上饲养双曲角蠓可以节省大量的成本。这些发现支持将C. cephalonica作为一种实用的、可扩展的宿主，用于针对FAW的增强生物防治计划，在不牺牲显著田间性能的情况下平衡经济可行性。©2025化学工业协会。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Pest Management Science 农林科学-昆虫学

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

9.80%

发文量

553

审稿时长

4.8 months

期刊介绍： Pest Management Science is the international journal of research and development in crop protection and pest control. Since its launch in 1970, the journal has become the premier forum for papers on the discovery, application, and impact on the environment of products and strategies designed for pest management. Published for SCI by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.