Region: South East Asia > Indonesia
Categorized: Biological control
Tagged:
Trichogramma egg parasitoids
I am planing to travel to some regions of Indonesia to collect Trichogramma species to start a colony of these parasitoids in a laboratory in Riau. What could be a plan to keep the parasitoids alive? Thanks,
Very easy. First, try to keep the insects alive during transport. When you find FAW egg masses, put them in individual vials and avoid direct sun or heat during transport. In the lab, the unparasitized larvae will hatch first. Keep the egg masses that have not fully hatched a bit longer and you will obtain adults of egg parasitoids (if you are lucky). For a small lab rearing, adults can simply be put in a vial with a fresh FAW egg mass obtained in the lab. If you want a mass production (e.g. for field releases), you have to use… Read more »
To add to the above. If new egg masses are not available at the same time as the egg parasitoids, it is possible to keep them alive for a few days with a honey solution absorbed in cotton or on filter paper. Mix a bit of honey with water and dip cotton in the solution so that the parasitoids don’t drown. Only a small amount is necessary for Trichogramma. You will be able to keep them alive until you get egg masses from the rearing. Make sure to change the honey every 2 days and keep the vial aerated.
If this is for control of S. frugiperda, in America, at least from Mexico to Bazil, Trichogramma atopoviliria is found and some researchers report / say it works similar to T. remus.