Department of Entomoloay, S. V. Agricultural College, Tirupati-517 502, Andhra Pradesh (India).
*Present address: Department of Entomology, Agricultural College, Bapatla-522 101, District Guntur, Andhra Pradesh (India).
The adult parasitoid, Goniozus nephantidis Mues., was cultured on host (Corcyra cephalonica St.) larvae reared on different diets comprising maize (Zea mays), bajra (Pennisetum typhoides), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) in combination with glucose and groundnut. Observations were recorded on parasitoid longevity, fecundity, number of larvae, pupae, adults, and sex ratio in two generations. The highest female longevity (35.64 days) was due to rearing on the diet sorghum + glucose + groundnut. The highest number of eggs (13433), larvae (124.32), pupae (120.56) and adults (115.13) were recorded from those reared on sorghum + glucose + groundnut and was significantly superior to other diets in the first generation. Also, in the subsequent generation, the number of eggs (104.45), larvae (102.01), pupae (100.60) and adults (99.0) was significantly superior in the same diet treatment. The male:female sex ratio of 1:2.756 and 1:2.600 was observed when the parasitoids were reared on host larvae bred on sorghum + glucose + groundnut in the flrst and second generations, respectivley. The influence of various diet combinations was, thus, evident on different biological parameters of parasitoid reared on host larvae in the same generation as also in the next generation.
