Cotesia plutellae (Kurdj.), a promising larval parasitoid of Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) in Manipur

In the field the extent of parasitism of Plutella xylostella larvae by Cotesia plutellae ranged from 5.50 to 36.80 per cent during 2001 and 10.00 to 36.00 percent during 2002 in Manipur. The parasitoid was active from first week of February to second week of April. The maximum parasitisation of 36.80 % on 3^rd week of March, 2001 and 36.00 % on 4^th week of March, 2002 synchronized with the maximum incidence of host larvae. The activity of parasitoid was found to have a significant positive correlation with incidence of host larval population, temperature and sunshine, negative correlation with relative humidity and total rainfall in both the cropping seasons.