Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Parasitoid Cotesia glomerata L. on Larval Stages of Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris brassica L. Under Laboratory Condition in Latakia, Syria

Baddour, Z.S., A.M. Ramadhan and I. Mohammed. 2024. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Parasitoid Cotesia glomerata L. on Larval Stages of Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris brassica L. Under Laboratory Condition in Latakia, Syria. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 42(4): 518-525. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001274 The effect of larval instars of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassica L. on biological characteristics of the endoparasitoid, Cotesia glomerata during the 2021 season under laboratory conditions (25±2°C, RH 60±5%, photo period of 16 hr light: 8 hr dark) was investigated. The results obtained showed that the larval instars of P. brassica had a significant impact on the fitness of the parasitoid C. glomerata. Fecundity varied depending on the host larval stage. The highest fecundity rate of 78.11 % was obtained when the parasitoid fed on the 1st larval stage, whereas it reached 72.2 and 72.43 % when fed on the 2nd and 3rd stage larvae, respectively. The duration of the parasitoid life cycle from oviposition to adult emergence reached 23.41, 25.31 and 26.62 days when fed on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd larval instars, respectively. Parasitism rate reached 88.67, 81.34 and 72.64 % when fed on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd instars, respectively. The other biological parameters such as sex ratio, longevity and fitness changed according to the larval instar fed on. The results obtained from this study suggest that 2nd and 3rd instars of P. brassica would be the best host stages for mass production of C. glomerata in the laboratory and the best host stages to target for effective control of P. brassica in the field. Keywords: Pieris brassicae, parasitoid, Cotesia glomerata, biological parameters, larval stage.