Marking Host Eggs by<i>Telenomus sphingis</i>

Abstract

Most attacks on eggs of Manduca sexta (Johannson) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) by Telenomus sphingis (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) are followed by marking, a process lasting 1.5 minutes, during which time the female backs over the host and continuously rubs the tip of her moist ovipositor in a sinuous pattern over the egg surface. Seventy-seven percent of attacks were followed by marking, and oviposition occurred in 99% of marked eggs. Oviposition occurred in only 15% of unmarked attacked eggs. Females mostly refrained from ovipositing in marked hosts. Females having oviposited recently demonstrated greater discriminatory powers than those that had not laid eggs.