Biology and Life History of Tetrastichus planipennisi (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a Larval Endoparasitoid of the Emerald Ash Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

ABSTRACT Tetrastichus planipennisi (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is a gregarious larval endoparasitoid from China that is being released in the United States as a biocontrol agent of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an exotic beetle responsible for widespread ash mortality. The developmental time of immature stages, adult longevity, reproductive age, oviposition rate, and realized fecundity were determined in the laboratory under normal rearing conditions (25 ± 2 °C, 65 ± 10% RH, and L:D 16:8 hr photoperiod). It takes approximately four weeks to complete a single generation (from egg to adult) under normal rearing conditions. While male wasps lived for a median of 5 weeks, females lived significantly longer with a median survival time of 6 weeks and a maximum survival time of 9 weeks. Newly emerged females appeared to be as capable of producing progeny as older females, indicating that T. planipennisi may be synovigenic. The average number of progeny per reproductive female remained rela...