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Towards development of a parasitoid cottage industry of the parasitoid wasp Habrobracon hebetor (say): optimum rearing and releases conditions for successful biological control of the millet head miner Heliocheilus albipunctella (De Joannis) in the Sahel

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Abstract

Augmentative biological control by the parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is the most promising strategy to control millet head miner, Heliocheilus albipunctella (De Joannis) a major insect pest of pearl millet in the Sahel. As H. hebetor survival is somehow challenging during the nine month long off-season when the host, H. albipunctella is in diapause, there needs to be a sufficient supply of parasitoids for fresh release each year. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish a small-scale parasitoid rearing process adjusted to the Sahel conditions that can be scaled-up as necessary. We conducted experiments to fine-tune and standardize the rearing technique of H. hebetor for cottage industrial use. The results showed that parasitoids fed with 30% honey solution and supplied daily with one late-larval-stage Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidotera, Pyralidae) produced highest number of progeny. The optimal times for mating and egg fertilization, was achieved when a male and female pair was confined for 24 h in a 30-cc vial. Our findings indicated that, compared with the conventional rearing method -2 females supplied once with 25 C. cephalonica larvae-, this new method resulted in 14-times greater parasitoid production. Furthermore parasitoid female can be stored for up to three weeks at fluctuating 23–32°C temperature and 25%–80% relative humidity for numbers accumulations prior to on-farm augmentative releases without altering its fitness.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) of the McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, MN [grant numbers 09-038; 2009-2012]. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the McKnight Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, CREAF de Kamboinsé, 01, Ouagadougou 01, BP, 476, Burkina Faso

    Adama Kabore, Niango Malick Ba & Clementine Dabire-Binso

  2. Laboratoire d’Entomologie Fondamentale et Appliquée, Unité de Formation et de Recherches en Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Université de Ouaga I Pr Joseph Ki-Zerbo, 06, 9499, Ouagadougou, BP, 06, Burkina Faso

    Adama Kabore & Antoine Sanon

  3. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, 12404, Niamey, BP, Niger

    Niango Malick Ba

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  1. Adama Kabore
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Correspondence to Niango Malick Ba.

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Kabore, A., Ba, N.M., Dabire-Binso, C. et al. Towards development of a parasitoid cottage industry of the parasitoid wasp Habrobracon hebetor (say): optimum rearing and releases conditions for successful biological control of the millet head miner Heliocheilus albipunctella (De Joannis) in the Sahel. Int J Trop Insect Sci 39, 25–33 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-019-00005-w

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