Plodia interpunctella as the suitable alternative host for mass rearing of Meteorus pulchricornis

作者：Rui Shi, Jiayan Lu, Aimin Shi, Xiaohan Shu, Lingzhi Yang, Pingting Wang, Yan Yan, Zhenxiao Li, Qiong Wu, Zhizhi Wang, Xiqian Ye, Xue‐Xin Chen, Pu Tang · 发表于：Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1186/s41938-026-00898-z · 研究领域：Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods、Entomopathogenic Microorganisms in Pest Control、Chemical synthesis and alkaloids

Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an important parasitoid of various lepidopteran pests with promising applications in biological control. However, its large-scale application has been hindered by the challenges associated with rearing it on natural hosts. This study investigates the use of Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) as a suitable alternative host for M. pulchricornis . While parasitoids reared on P. interpunctella showed slight reductions in body size (3.87 vs. 4.60 mm), fecundity (17.10 vs. 26.70 eggs) and adult longevity (16.63 vs. 17.73 days) compared to those reared on the natural host Spodoptera frugiperda , key performance indicators—such as parasitism rate (48.00 vs. 50.00%), cocoon formation rate (90.83 vs. 91.67%) and adult emergence rate (93.33 vs. 94.17%)—did not differ significantly between the two host treatments. P. interpunctella provides a suitable alternative host for rearing M. pulchricornis , thereby offering substantial potential for the application of this parasitoid in large-scale biological control programs targeting lepidopteran pests.