This study was performed to investigate the age-dependent functional response of Aphidius matricariae Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) at varying densities of tobacco aphid, Myzus persicae nicotianae Blackman (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Six densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 numbers) of third instar nymphs of M. persicae nicotianae were daily exposed to one pair of 1-day-old A. matricariae until the parasitoid female died. Each host aphid density was replicated 10 times. The experiments were conducted at constant environmental conditions (25 ± 1 °C, 70 ± 5% RH and 16:8h L:D photoperiod). The logistic regression model demonstrated that the functional response of A. matricariae was type III in the second day and type II in the first day and from third to the end of adult parasitoid lifetime. The handling time (T_h) was lowest in the first day (0.2305 h) and highest in the sixth day (2.9296 h) of the parasitoid’s life. The searching efficiency (a) values were 0.0573, 0.0649, 0.0503, 0.0229, and 0.0077 h⁻¹ in the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days of the parasitoid’s life, respectively. Also, the b value for type III functional response was 0.0147 in the second day. The values of maximum attack rate (T/T_h) ranged from 104.12 nymphs/24 h in the first day to 19.8 nymphs/24 h in the sixth day of parasitoid’s life. Based on the results, A. matricariae showed a high potential to control the population of tobacco aphid and the highest efficiency gained in the first half of the female parasitoid life.

进行这项研究的目的是研究不同密度的烟草蚜虫桃蚜（Manzus persicae nicotianae Blackman）（半翅目：蚜虫）在不同密度下的蚜虫Haliday（膜翅目：Braconidae）的年龄依赖性功能响应。每天将六倍密度（2、4、8、16、32和64密度）的烟曲霉第三龄若虫暴露于一对1日龄的拟南芥中，直到该寄生虫雌性死亡。每个宿主蚜虫密度重复10次。实验在恒定的环境条件（25±1°C，70±5％RH和16：8h L：D光周期）下进行。Logistic回归模型表明，马鞭草的功能反应在第二天是III型，在第一天以及从第三天到成年寄生虫寿命的最后一天是II型。处理时间（T _h）在寄生虫生命的第一天（0.2305 h）最低，第六天（2.9296 h）最高。在寄生虫的寿命的第一天，第三天，第四天，第五天和第六天，搜索效率（a）值分别为0.0573、0.0649、0.0503、0.0229和0.0077 h ^-1。另外，第二天III型功能性反应的b值为0.0147。最大攻击率（T / T _h）从寄生虫生命第一天的104.12仙/ 24小时到第六天的19.8仙/ 24小时不等。根据这些结果，母猪链球菌显示出控制烟草蚜虫种群的巨大潜力，并且在雌性寄生虫生命的前半段中获得了最高的效率。