Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:15:04.148Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SEASONAL CYCLE AND BIOLOGY OF WINTHEMIA RUFOPICTA (DIPTERA: TACHINIDAE) AS A PARASITE OF HELIOTHIS SPP. (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE) ON TOBACCO IN NORTH CAROLINA1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

H. V. Danks
H. V. Danks
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The first adult generation of Winthemia rufopicta (Big.) emerged during April in North Carolina, males preceding the females by about a week. This was several weeks prior to the occurrence of large larvae of Heliothis zea (Boddie) and H. virescens (Fab.), two commonly recorded hosts of W. rufopicta. The average female, after a pre-ovipositional period of several days, deposited about 60 eggs over a further several days. The sex ratio was normally unity, with the exception that flies overwintered in the field showed a predominance of males.

Populations of W. rufopicta declined in spring, apparently from a shortage of hosts, then slowly built up through several overlapping generations: developmental rates at different temperatures are indicated. In the fall, local host concentrations were more frequent, and parasitism of Heliothis hosts on tobacco occurred consistently and sometimes reached high levels. Parasites overwintered as fully grown diapausing maggots in shallow cells in the soil.

Experimental populations of Heliothis spp. (mainly H. virescens) maintained on tobacco were not parasitized by W. rufopicta until late in the season. Temporal and spatial interactions between host and parasite populations at that time are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 107 , Issue 6 , June 1975 , pp. 639 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, H. W. 1925. Biology of the red-tailed tachina fly, Winthemia quadripustulata Fabr. Tech. Bull. Miss. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 12.Google Scholar
Baker, A. W. 1915. The armyworm in Ontario in 1914. Rep. Ont. ent. Soc. 36: 75–87.Google Scholar
Bottrell, D. G. 1969. Notes on parasites attacking the yellow-striped armyworm in Oklahoma. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 62: 250–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burrel, R. W. 1967. Parasites of armyworm in Louisiana. J. econ. Ent. 69: 111–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, R. L. 1970. A low-cost artificial diet for the corn earworm. J. econ. Ent. 63: 1969–1970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danks, H. V. 1974. The macrotype eggs of Tachinidae (Diptera) on Heliothis spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in North Carolina. Can. Ent. 106: 1277–1282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danks, H. V. 1975. Factors determining levels of parasitism by Winthemia rufopicta (Diptera: Tachinidae), with particular reference to Heliothis spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as hosts. Can. Ent. 107: 655–684.Google Scholar
DeLoach, C. J. and Rabb, R. L.. 1971. Life history of Winthemia manducae (Diptera: Tachinidae), a parasite of the tobacco hornworm. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 64: 399–409.Google Scholar
Guimarães, J. H. 1972. A revision of the genus Winthemia Robineau-Desvoidy in America north of Mexico (Dipt., Tachinidae). Arq. Zool. Estudo Sao Paulo 22: 27–112.Google Scholar
Guppy, J. C. 1967. Insect parasites of the armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), with notes on species observed in Ontario. Can. Ent. 99: 94–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassell, M. P. 1966. Evaluation of parasite or predator responses. J. Anim. Ecol. 35: 65–75.Google Scholar
Herting, B. 1960. Biologie der Westpalaarktischen Raupenfliegen Dipt., Tachinidae. Monogrn angew. Ent., No. 16. 188 pp.Google Scholar
Hoffmaster, R. N. and Greenwood, D. E.. 1949. Fall armyworm control on forage and trucks crops. J. econ. Ent. 42: 502–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery, B. E. 1933. Preliminary studies of insect parasites in Indiana. Can. Ent. 65: 185–190.Google Scholar
N. O. A. A. 1973, 1974. North Carolina climatological data. United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Google Scholar
Neunzig, H. H. 1969. The biology of the tobacco budworm and the corn earworm in North Carolina, with particular reference to tobacco as a host. Tech. Bull. N.C. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 196.Google Scholar
Pond, D. D. 1960. Life history of the armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in New Brunswick. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 53: 661–665. (Errata 54 (1961): 168.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabb, R. L. 1966. Diapause in Protoparce sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 59: 160–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherman, F. 1915. Rearing of moths and tachina flies from larvae and pupae of armyworm in North Carolina in 1914. J. econ. Ent. 8: 299–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stinner, R. E., Rabb, R. L., and Bradley, J. R.. 1974. Population dynamics of Heliothis zea (Boddie) and H. virescens (F.) in North Carolina: a simulation model. Env. Ent. 3: 163–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar