Role of lipids, amino acids, and sucrose on the total adult and female emergence, and content of glycogen and protein in pimpla turionellae (hymenoptera: ichneumonidae)

Abstract

We investigated the effects of a diet prepared with varying lipid, amino acid, and sucrose contents on the total adult and female emergence and the total glycogen and protein levels in the life span of female Pimpla turionellae. Although the meridic diet containing any lipids had no significant effect on the ratio of emerging adults, increasing and decreasing the amount of lipids in the diet significantly affected female emergence. Increasing the amino acid content by 50% or omitting it in the control diet decreased the total adult ratio compared to the control diet. A maximum of 85.18% of adults emerged in this group when the insects were fed a synthetic diet containing 1.5 g of amino acid mixture. The insects lived for only 7 d without sucrose, whereas increasing and decreasing the amount of sucrose in the diet affected the total female emergence positively relative to the control diet. The meridic diet increased the emergence of P. turionellae females but reduced their total glycogen. The decrease in female emergence observed when sucrose and amino acids are removed is explained by a decrease in the phagostimulation and metabolic protein deviation. Ascertaining the exact combination of carbohydrates and proteins is essential for successful rearing of these insects.