LIFE HISTORY AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE LARVAL PARASITOID, EPYRIS NIGER WESTWOOD (BETHYLIDAE : HYMENOPTERA)

KHALAFALLA S. AHMED
Dept. of the Biological and Geological Sciences,
Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University .

ABSTRACT

Epyris niger Westwood is a solitary larval ectoparasitoid on coleopteran species such as Tribolium confususn Jaq. duval and Triboliwn caslaneu,n Hbst. At 262oC and 65±5 $ R.H. The egg. larval, prepupal and pupal stages lasted 1,7,6, 9,2, 0 and 13.3 for female and 1, 7,5, 2, 2, 0 and 11.6 days for male, respectively. The preoviposition, oviposition and postoviposition periods were 5, 3, 14.9 and 2.1 days for the mated females at the same temperature, respectively. The daily number of eggs laid per female was 8.2 while the total number per female during the life span was 123.2 eggs. The females lived longer than males. They also lived longer when mated and fed on honey (22.3 days) than virgin starved ones (1.9 days).

Key Words: Parasitoid, E. niger , Morphology, Biology, Life cycle