Role of Ten Dietary Vitamins on Fecundity of the Parasitoid<i>Exeristes comstockii</i>(Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

Abstract

Abstract Feeding tests with the adults of Exeristes comstockii (Cress.) on chemically defined diets showed that, of ten B-vitamins omitted singly, only three, panthothenic acid, folic acid and thiamine, were needed for maximal egg production and maximal numbers of eggs contained in ovaries. Egg production on a diet with only these three vitamins was similar to that on a control with all B-vitamins, but egg viability was significantly lower. Addition of α-tocopherol did not increase fecundity or egg viability. Vitamin-starved females partly recovered ovarian function when fed tissues of Galleria mellonella L.