Abstract

Apanteles creatonoti Viereck (Braconidae) is an important larval parasitoid ofSpilosuma obliqua (WIK). The pest mortality due to this parasitoid was 38 per cent in the fields of Maharashtra. In the laboratory (25±1°C temp., 55-60 per cent R.H., 12 h photoperiod) the parasitism reached upto 45.60 per cent. The parasitoid attacks five-day-old host larvae mostly. The optimum host density for maximum parasitism was 50. The progeny production ranged from 57 to 96 (average 84.1) with an average sex ratio (1:1:679. The innate capacity for increase was found to be 0.181 per female per day on the five-day-old hosts and population multiplied to 50.25 times in a mean generation time of 21.64 days.

Keywords: Apanteles creatonoti, Impact, Spilosoma obiliqua