Note sur la biologie deDiatraeophaga striatalis Townsend tachinaire parasite deProceras sacchariphagus Boj

Summary

The author describes the life cycle ofDiatraeophaga striatalis, a tachinid parasite ofProceras sacchariphagus, under conditions of laboratory rearing. At 27°C and 80% relative humidity the average length of endoparasitic life and of nymphosis is of 10 days. Embryogenesis occurs in the uterus of the fertilized females which laid their first planidia at least 8 days after mating.

At 18°C the endoparasitic life lasts from 20 days to 32 days. At 15°C the parasite larva stop developping and dies in the host; the nymph cannot tolerate this temperature for over 15 days. The oviposition process is inhibited at 15°C but females survive to this treatment for less than a week.

Superparasitism does not involve the delayed development of larvae and has no effect on the size and the weight of the pupae obtained if the size of the host caterpillar is large enough and if the two parasites are not fixed on the same trachea.