Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:35:41.370Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preliminary studies on the biology of Orasema assectator Kerrich (Hym., Eucharitidae), parasitic on Pheidole and causing damage to leaves of tea in Assam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

G. M. Das
G. M. Das
Affiliation:
Tocklai Experimental Station, Cinnamara, Assam.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The so-called ‘sewing blight ’ of tea in Assam is an effect of oviposition in the young leaves by two species of Eucharitid, Orasema initiator Kerrich and O. assectator Kerrich. The affected leaves develop brown spots round the oviposition punctures, wither prematurely and adversely affect the quality of the made tea. Normally only a small proportion of bushes is affected and these are associated with the presence of nests of an undetermined species of Pheidole.

An account is given of the life-history of O. assectator, and the developmental stages are briefly described. The eggs are laid singly in incisions made by the ovipositor on the underside of the leaf in parallel rows arranged lengthwise. The newly hatched larvae exist as free-living planidia on the leaf surface, whence they are carried by unknown means into the ants' nests in the soil beneath the tea bushes. Here the planidium transfers to the last-instar larva of the ant and penetrates its body. There it remains inactive until its host reaches the prepupal stage, whereupon endoparasitic feeding and development start. After the host pupa has formed, the parasite larva emerges, establishes itself below the thorax of its host, and remains there, feeding ectoparasitically, through two further instars, completely consuming the contents of its host. The mature larvae remain scattered in the ant's nest and pupate a few days later; both larvae and pupae are cared for by the worker ants.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , November 1963 , pp. 373 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

D[as], G. M. (1954). Sewing blight.—Two & a Bud 1 no. 3 p. 12.Google Scholar
Clausen, C. P. (1923). The biology of Schizaspidia tenuicornis Ashm., a Eucharid parasite of Camponotus.—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 16 pp. 195–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clausen, C. P. (1940). Entomophagous insects.—688 pp. New York, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Ishii, T. (1932). Some Philippine Eucharids with notes on their oviposition habits.—Bull. imp. agric. Exp. Sta. Japan 3 pp. 203–212 [original not seen].Google Scholar
Keerich, G. J. (1963). Description of two species of Eucharitidae damaging tea, with comparative notes on other species.—Bull. ent. Res. 54 pp. 365–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, H. S. (1912). The Chalcidoid Genus Perilampus and its relations to the problem of parasite introduction.—Tech. Ser. Bur. Ent. U.S. Dep. Agric. no. 19 pp. 33–69.Google Scholar
Wheeler, W. M. (1907). The polymorphism of ants, with an account of some singular abnormalities due to parasitism.—Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 23 pp. 1–93.Google Scholar
Wheeler, G. C. & Wheeler, E. W. (1937). New Hymenopterous parasites of ants (Chalcidoidea: Eucharidae).—Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 30 pp. 163–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar