Day 4 Provide the female with a new supply of whitefly larvae by placing
her in a new tray. Do this around the same time in the morning.
Day 5 Repeat day 4.
Day 6 Remove the parasites from the whitefly larvae. Keep all whitefly that
were exposed to E. eremicusin closed containers to prevent unwanted
parasitism after the test. Remove adult whitefly emerging from
unparasitized pupae to keep the leaf disc in optimum condition.
Day 20 Count all yellow pupae. The average number of yellow pupae per
female per day should be 15.
Design: J.N. Klapwijk.
Coordinators: J.N. Klapwijk and Pete Smytheman.
288 J.C. van Lenteren et al.
Fig. 19.8.Antennae of Eretmocerus eremicus: male
(left) and female (right).Eretmocerus mundusMercet (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) Provisional test
Test conditions
Temperature: 25 ± 2°C
RH: 65 ± 5%
Light regime: 16L : 8D
Quality control criteria (based on shipment of parasitized pupae)
Emergence See Eretmocerus eremicus.
Sex ratio ≥ 50% females, n = 5 bottles, a sample of 100 wasps from each bottle;
batch-wise or seasonal test.
Fecundity ≥ 10 offspring per female, n = 30; seasonal or annual test.
Description of testing methods
Emergence See Eretmocerus eremicus
Sex ratio Take a sample of about 500 wasps from the emergence test and count
the number of females. Sex can be easily determined by the antennae
and the dark brown coloration on the male’s dorsothorax.
Fecundity The test is performed on cotton plants infested with second-to-third-
stage nymphs of Bemisia tabaci. The cotton should be about 20 cm
high with two or three true leaves. Each plant should be infested
with about 30 B. tabaciadults 12 days earlier in order to get enough
second-to-third-stage nymphs, which are preferred by E. mundus.
Place the plants in a well-ventilated transparent cage (~4 l volume,
~30 cm high, 15 cm wide, 15 cm long).
Allow newly emerged wasps (males and females) to mate and feed
(honey should be supplied as food) for 24 h in a container. After 24 h,
select randomly 30 E. mundusfemales from this container and place
each female separately in one of the cages with the plants. After
12–14 days, take off the leaves and count the number of E. mundus