Quality Assessment and Host Preference of Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) for Fresh and Cryopreserved Euschistus heros (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Eggs

Abstract

The neotropical brown stink bug is one of the most important pests of soybean, with management frequently relying on the use of chemical insecticides. However, this approach causes environmental impacts, human health risks, and biodiversity loss, while also causing insecticide resistance to build. Alternatively, biological control with mass releases of parasitoids can also be used to manage this pest. For this, reliable and timely parasitoid mass production in bio-factories is required. In this study, we evaluated the quality of parasitoids produced using frozen host eggs, a promising technique that can improve parasitoid mass production. Parasitoids reared from frozen eggs showed similar quality compared to those originating from fresh eggs, which are usually used in bio factories. This indicates that frozen eggs are a suitable tool for parasitoid mass rearing, providing more options for timed releases in soybean fields.