E. E. STOIANOVA
Plant Protection Institute, BG - 2230 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
STOIANOVA, E. E., 2007. The effect of the nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs) of some Noctuidae species on the longevity of Bracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 13: 197-203
The consequences of the viral infection on the longevity of the parasitoid Bracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were evaluated in two experiments - in presence and absence of hosts.
In the first experiment females and males parasitoids were infected "per os" with viral suspension of different nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs) of the species Autographa gamma L., Mamestra brassicae L. and Lacanobia oleraceae L. (Lapidoptera: Noctuidae).
In the second experiment five Noctuidae species (A. gamma L., Xantia c-nigrum L., M. brassicae L., L. oleraceae L. and Helicoverpa armigera Hubn.) were infected with their native NPVs and every one larva was isolated with a couple of parasitoids for parasitation.
The results of these two experiments showed that: 1) The nuclear polyhedrosis viruses of X. nigrum (XcNPV), L. oleraceae (LoNPV), M. brassicae (MbNPV) and A. gamma (AgNPV) didnt't impact directly on the longevity of both females and males of the parasitod B. hebetor.; 2) The longevity of the parasitoid B. hebetor didn't decrease when the males and females parasitized hosts infected with AgNPV, MbNPV and LoNPV.