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Deleterious effects of Bacillus thuringiensis on biological parameters of Habrobracon hebetor parasitizing Helicoverpa armigera

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Abstract

The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner and the braconid wasp Habrobracon hebetor Say are valuable biocontrol agents attacking larval stages of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). Little information is available regarding combination of these biocontrol agents during integrated management of H. armigera. To address this knowledge gap, we document sublethal effects of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk) on the H. hebetor attacking H. armigera larvae infected with Btk. The results revealed that the duration of different life stages and fecundity of H. hebetor was significantly affected by sublethal treatments with Btk. We also present data supporting that sublethal concentrations of Btk could adversely affect life table parameters of H. hebetor. Sublethal treatments reduced the net reproductive rate (R 0) and there were also significant differences among the values of this parameter at all treatments tested. The intrinsic (r m ) and finite (λ) rates of increase were also significantly lower in parasitoid wasps reared on the treated larvae of H. armigera compared to control. These findings will be useful to develop appropriate strategies for assessing the risks of Btk to the parasitoids and safe deployment of both organisms in integrated pest management programs for sustainable crop production.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a part of the Ph.D. dissertation of the first author, which financially supported by Tarbiat Modares University. The authors are grateful to Vida Sadraeian for her assistance in laboratory experiments. We also thank Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes at The University of Tennessee for his thoughtful comments on earlier version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, P. O. Box 14115-336, Tehran, Iran

    Amin Sedaratian & Yaghoub Fathipour

  2. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Reza Talaei-Hassanloui

Authors
  1. Amin Sedaratian
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  2. Yaghoub Fathipour
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  3. Reza Talaei-Hassanloui
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Correspondence to Yaghoub Fathipour.

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Handling Editor: Helen Roy.

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Sedaratian, A., Fathipour, Y. & Talaei-Hassanloui, R. Deleterious effects of Bacillus thuringiensis on biological parameters of Habrobracon hebetor parasitizing Helicoverpa armigera . BioControl 59, 89–98 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-013-9531-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-013-9531-1

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