Performance of Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on different pomegranate cultivars

Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an important ectoparasitoid for biological control of several lepidopteran insect pests. The present research evaluated plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions with H. hebetor and Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) on five commercial cultivars of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), including Esfahani-Daneghermez and Malase-Danesyah (relatively resistant), Gabri and Tafti (moderately susceptible) and Shahvare-Danesefid (relatively susceptible) under controlled conditions as follows: 30 ± 1 °C, 60 ± 5% RH with a photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h. Significant differences were observed in the demographical parameters of H. hebetor on different pomegranate cultivars. The shortest immature development time of parasitoid wasp was detected on Shahvare-Danesefid cultivar, and the longest period was on Malase-Danesyah and Esfahani-Daneghermez cultivars. Fecundity rate was the highest on Tafti and Shahvare-Danesefid cultivars and the lowest on Malase-Danesyah. Furthermore, there were no significant differences among pomegranate cultivars in the gross reproductive rate (GRR) and net reproductive rate (R0) parameters of H. hebetor. The highest value of intrinsic rate of increase (r) was observed on Shahvare-Danesefid (0.249 d−1), and the lowest was on Malase-Danesyah (0.196 d−1). Significant positive or negative relationships were observed between the life history parameters of H. hebetor and the biochemical traits of pomegranate cultivars. Shahvare-Danesefid cultivar was found to be a more appropriate host than other cultivars to develop H. hebetor. These results may provide fundamental data to further understand pomegranate-carob moth-parasitoid wasp relationships. Most importantly, our findings indicated that dynamic variations in the quality of host plant affected the performance and multitrophic communications behavior of H. hebetor.