Abstract Ontsiramellipes Ashmead is a gregarious larval ectoparasitoid of woodboring cerambycids that is native to North America but can readily attack the exotic Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky). To evaluate the potential of the parasitoid as a novel association control agent for the pest beetle, this study investigated some key reproductive traits of the parasitoid, including egg maturation dynamics, and host size preference and suitability in association with the beetle. Results showed that female wasps emerged with a substantial portion (38%) of their lifetime complement of mature eggs and matured eggs rapidly, reaching a peak 4–6 d post-eclosion. The number of mature eggs was positively related to the female wasp's body size. Oviposition prompted production of more mature eggs by young female wasps. The parasitoid did not show a significant preference for large over small hosts in a choice test. Host size did not affect the parasitoid's offspring survival, developmental time, or sex ratio. However, clutch size increased with increasing host size. Female wasps that developed from large hosts had larger body size and consequently a higher mature egg load than those reared from small hosts. Neither longevity nor the total number of parasitized hosts over a female's lifetime was affected by the female's size, but the total number of offspring produced per female increased with the female's size. These results have important implications for improving rearing and field-release strategies as well as understanding the ecological mechanisms underlying host size selection in gregarious parasitoids.

中文翻译：

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Ontsira mellipes（膜翅目：茧蜂科）的繁殖特征，一种北美寄生物，作为外来天牛（鞘翅目：天牛科）的新型生物防治剂

摘要 Ontsiramellipes Ashmead 是一种原生于北美的蛀木天牛的群居幼虫外寄生物，但可以很容易地攻击异国情调的亚洲长角甲虫 Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)。为了评估寄生蜂作为害虫甲虫的新型关联控制剂的潜力，本研究调查了寄生蜂的一些关键繁殖特性，包括卵成熟动态、寄主大小偏好和与甲虫相关的适用性。结果表明，雌性黄蜂的成熟卵和成熟卵的终生补充中有很大一部分 (38%) 出现，并在羽化后 4-6 天达到峰值。成熟卵的数量与雌性黄蜂的体型呈正相关。产卵促使年轻的雌性黄蜂产生更多成熟的卵。在选择测试中，寄生蜂没有表现出对大型宿主的显着偏好。寄主大小不影响寄生蜂的后代存活、发育时间或性别比例。然而，离合器尺寸随着主机尺寸的增加而增加。从大型宿主发育的雌性黄蜂比从小型宿主发育的雌性黄蜂体型更大，因此成熟的卵负荷更高。雌性的寿命和寄生宿主总数都不受雌性体型的影响，但每个雌性产生的后代总数随着雌性体型的增加而增加。这些结果对于改进饲养和田间释放策略以及理解群居寄生蜂中宿主大小选择的生态机制具有重要意义。