Effect of Tachinid Parasitoid Exorista japonica on the Larval Development and Pupation of the Host Silkworm Bombyx mori.

ABSTRACT: The Tachinidae are natural enemies of many lepidopteran and coleopteran pests of crops, forests, and fruits. However, host-tachinid parasitoid interactions have been largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the effects of tachinids on host biological traits, using Exorista japonica, a generalist parasitoid, and the silkworm Bombyx mori, its lepidopteran host, as models. We observed that E. japonica parasitoidism did not affect silkworm larval body weight gain and cocooning rate, whereas they caused shortened duration of molting from the final instar to the pupal stage, abnormal molting from larval to pupal stages, and a subsequent decrease in host emergence rate. Moreover, a decrease in juvenile hormone (JH) titer and an increase in 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) t

SUBMITTER: Dai ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8889078 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature