The reproductive capacity of Glyptapanteles muesebecki (Blanchard) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was studied in the laboratory (20 ± 1ºC; 12 hours of photophase) using second-instar larvae of Pseudaletia sequax Franclemont (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as hosts. Females lived an average of 8.4 days when exposed to five caterpillars/day, compared to 20.6 days in the absence of hosts. Females of G. muesebecki parasitized an average of 20.8 caterpillars during their life time, producing a total of 666.8 descendants. Daily parasitism was 3.6 hosts/female in the first day after emergence and above two hosts/female until the eighth day. Up to five caterpillars were able to be parasitized by a female in a 24-hour period.
Insecta; biological control; parasitoid; armyworm
