Labeling Anaphes ovijentatus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae)., an Egg Parasite of Lygus spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae)., with Rubidium

Authors

Charles G. Jackson
Allen C. Cohen
Charmaine L. Verdugo

Date of this Version

1988

Comments

Published in Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 81(6): 919-922 (1988).

Abstract

The eggs of Lygus hesperus (Knight) were labeled with the element rubidium (Rb) by rearing the nymphs and maintaining the adults on diet with 100, 500, or 1,000 ppm rubidium chloride (RbCl). Anaphes ovijentatus (Crosby and Leonard), a parasite of Lygus spp. eggs, was marked with Rb concentrations above laboratory and field endogenous levels when reared from labeled eggs of Lygus adults fed diets with 500 and 1,000 ppm RbCI. Rb concentrations remained sufficiently high to distinguish labeled parasites from those collected in alfalfa fields for 4 d. The parasites that developed in eggs of L. hesperus reared on diet with 1,000 ppm RbCI tended to be shorter-lived and to produce fewer progeny than those from eggs of Lygus fed diets with lower concentrations, but only differences in longevity of males were statistically significant.