Two egg parasitoids from Pakistan, Gryon sp. nr. gonikopalense Sharma (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) and Trissolcus hyalinipennis Rajmohana & Narendran (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), are currently being investigated as potential classical biocontrol agents for Bagrada hilaris Burmeister. The former is the most promising because of its ability to attack B. hilaris eggs in soil, but the latter was recently discovered in California. This study detailed the patch use and oviposition behavior of both species and assessed their relative foraging efficiency. We also investigated possible competitive interactions by assessing 1) the occurrence of intra- and interspecific host discrimination, 2) mutual interference between females (extrinsic competition), 3) the outcome of multiparasitism (intrinsic competition), and 4) the effect of competition on host suppression. Our results showed that T. hyalinipennis females tended to probe repeatedly in the same hosts leading to longer host patch time and lower foraging efficiency. Both species avoided conspecific superparasitism, but not multiparasitism. When the two species foraged simultaneously, G. sp. nr. gonikopalense seemed to be slightly superior in extrinsic competition, while neither species seemed to have an advantage in intrinsic competition. Also, neither species could develop as a facultative hyperparasitoid, but they inflicted non-reproductive mortality on eggs containing 4-d-old larvae of their competitor. Lastly, host mortality inflicted by G. sp. nr. gonikopalense and T. hyalinipennis when acting together appeared to be additive. These results suggest that the presence of T. hyalinipennis in California is unlikely to reduce G. sp. nr. gonikopalense efficiency, but will instead improve the biological control of B. hilaris.

中文翻译：

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寄主补丁的使用和两个来自家庭 Scelionidae 的卵寄生蜂之间的潜在竞争相互作用，Bagrada hilaris 的候选生物控制剂（半翅目：蝾螈科）

来自巴基斯坦的两种卵寄生蜂，Gryon sp。天然橡胶 gonikopalense Sharma (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) 和 Trissolcus hyalinipennis Rajmohana & Narendran (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) 目前正在研究作为 Bagrada hilaris Burmeister 的潜在经典生物防治剂。前者是最有希望的，因为它能够攻击土壤中的 B. hilaris 卵，但后者最近在加利福尼亚被发现。这项研究详细介绍了这两个物种的斑块使用和产卵行为，并评估了它们的相对觅食效率。我们还通过评估 1）种内和种间宿主歧视的发生，2）雌性之间的相互干扰（外在竞争），3）多寄生的结果（内在竞争）来研究可能的竞争相互作用，4）竞争对宿主抑制的影响。我们的研究结果表明，T. hyalinipennis 雌性倾向于在同一宿主中重复探测，导致宿主补丁时间较长和觅食效率较低。这两个物种都避免了同种超寄生，但没有多寄生。当这两个物种同时觅食时，G. sp。天然橡胶 gonikopalense 似乎在外在竞争中略胜一筹，而这两个物种似乎在内在竞争中都没有优势。此外，这两个物种都不能发展为兼性超寄生蜂，但它们会对含有竞争对手 4 天龄幼虫的卵造成非生殖死亡率。最后，由 G. sp. 造成的宿主死亡率。天然橡胶 gonikopalense 和 T. hyalinipennis 一起作用时似乎是相加的。这些结果表明存在 T. 加利福尼亚的 hyalinipennis 不太可能减少 G. sp。天然橡胶 gonikopalense 效率，但会提高 B. hilaris 的生物控制。