Biology and life history of Tamarixia triozae, a parasitoid of the potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli

Tamarixia triozae (Burks) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is an important parasitoid of the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Sulc (Hemiptera: Triozidae). We quantified the biology and life table parameters of T. triozae parasitizing B. cockerelli nymphs under laboratory conditions (26 +/- A 2 A degrees C, 60 +/- A 10 % RH and 14:10 [L:D] h). Parasitoid developmental times were 1.5, 3.5, 5.7 days for eggs, larvae and pupae respectively, with an average of 12.0 days from egg to adult emergence. Female pupae took 0.4 day longer to develop than male pupae. Adult females lived 19.9 +/- A 4.5 days and had a 1.9 +/- A 0.8 days preoviposition period. Each female laid an average of 165.4 +/- A 45.2 eggs during her lifetime. The net reproductive rate (R (0) ), generation time (T), intrinsic rate of increase (r (m) ), doubling time (DT) and the finite rate of increase (lambda) were 130.9, 18.72, 0.26, 2.7, and 1.3 respectively. The potential for the use of T. triozae as a biological control agent of B. cockerelli is discussed.