Biology of the almond moth, ephestia cautella (walker) on two larval diets and efficacy of three egg parasitoids, trichogramma spp. and the larval parasitoid, habrobracon hebetor (say) for controlling it on dried date fruits / Marwa Mohamed Ahmed Farag ; Supervised Monir Mohamed Elhusseini , Sayeda Sayed Ahmed Abdelsamad

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Agriculture - Department of Economic Entomology and Pesticides

Certain biological aspects of the almond moth, Ephestia cautella (Walker) and selected natural enemies of it (the egg parasitoids belong to the genus Trichogramma spp. and the larval parasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor (Say) were investigated as alternative pest management tools in post-harvest storage during the sun-drying period of date fruits. Biological studies were carried out at 27±2{u00B0}C, 65±5% R.H. and 16:8 (L: D) illumination period, on both an artificial diet and date fruits. Considered biological aspects were ovipositional periods, fecundity, adult longevity, incubation period, hatchability, larval duration, pupal duration and generation period. The total life-cycle duration of E. cautella was shorter and fecundity higher when larvae were reared on the artificial diet compared to date fruits. Three native species of the egg-parasitoid Trichogramma i.e., T. bourorachae, T. evanescens and T. cacoeciae were tested against E. cautella eggs. Host preference and host age preference were approximated. T. cacoeciae was the most effective against E. cautella eggs. Also, host instar preference was studied for the larval parasitoid, H. hebetor on E. cautella larvae

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