LABORATORY EVALUATION OF THE BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN THE HAEMOLYMPH OF THE LEPIDOPTERAN LARVAE AFTER STINGING BY THE POTTER WASP, EUMENES CONICA (INSECTA: HYMENOPTERA)

Abstract

Potter wasps belong to the subfamily Eumeninae of the family Vespidae. Potter wasp is a common name given for a group of caterpillar hunting wasp which builds the pot-shaped mud nests. Initially the wasp constructs the nest and then starts hunting for its prey, the caterpillars. The prey is stung and paralyzed by the wasp then brought to the nest. It is perhaps a very highly specific behavior of these wasps. The female wasp lays her egg on the prey. The egg is firmly attached to the prey and the larva hatching out sucks the haemocoel which oozes out from the prey. In the present study, the biochemical changes in the haemolypmh of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), before and after stinging by the potter wasp were observed. There is considerable change in the nutritional physiology of parasitized prey. The successful development of the parasitoid depends on the concentration of the host haemolymph. Hosts do not survive and thus parasitoids play an important role in regulating the population of the hosts.