The endoparasitoid Tetrastichus howardi (Olliff) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) can be reared with the alternative host Tenebrio molitor (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Host storage at low temperatures can regulate parasitoid production and demand in biological control programs. The life cycle (egg to adult), parasitism and emergence percentage, number of parasitoids emerged per host pupae, sex ratio, and longevity of the T. howardi offspring per T. molitor pupa were evaluated after low temperature storage of this host for different periods, and its immature (pupae) in T. molitor pupae for 5 periods at 10.3 °C. Tenebrio molitor pupae stored at 0.5 ± 0.09 °C and 2.7 ± 0.11 °C for 10 and 20 d, respectively, were adequate to produce T. howardi. The biological characteristics of this parasitoid were better with T. molitor pupae stored at 0.5 ± 0.09 °C and 2.7 ± 0.11 °C for 10 and 20 d. Tetrastichus howardi immature (pupae) can be stored in T. molitor pupae for 10, 20, 30, 60, and 90 d at 10.3 °C, preferably in pupae of this host for 10 d to produce the adults of this parasitoid for biological control programs. These results contribute to overcoming 1 of the difficulties encountered in the mass production of parasitoids. Therefore, the conservation of T. molitor pupae in low temperatures can be used to increment of population of T. howardi in mass production for pest control programs.

Temperature is one of the abiotic factors that strongly influences the biology and behavior of insects. In this study, we assessed the development of egg parasitoids Ooencyrtus submetallicus and Telenomus podisi parasitizing Euschistus heros eggs at different temperatures, and estimated the average number of generations for seven representative soybean-producing regions in Brazil. A comparative biology study was conducted, where the percentage of parasitism and emergence, life cycle duration (egg–adult), and longevity were found to be similar between O. submetallicus and T. podisi. The sex ratio and the number of individuals emerged from parasitized egg were higher in O. submetallicus in all regions. In the study of thermal requirements, temperatures of 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 33 °C were tested. O. submetallicus and T. podisi developed at temperatures between 16 and 31 °C. The base temperature (Tb) for O. submetallicus and T. podisi was 9.3 and 6.7 °C, respectively; the thermal constant (K) was 336.9 and 272.7 degree-days, respectively. The estimated average number of annual generations of both parasitoids was higher than the host. O. submetallicus and T. podisi have the same ability to parasitize and develop in eggs of E. heros under the conditions studied. Both parasitoids exhibited satisfactory development and parasitism at temperatures between 19 and 31 °C. The development of both parasitoids was faster than their host, and the number of generations was higher for the seven studied localities.

Iridopsis panopla(Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is a defoliator of eucalyptus (Myrtaceae).Iridopsis panoplapupae were collected on a commercial plantation ofEucalyptus grandis, in the locality of Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. After 18 days, the hymenopteran parasitoidsBrachymeria annulata(Chalcididae) andTrichospilus diatraeae(Eulophidae) emerged from theI. panoplapupae. This is the first host record of these parasitoids from this important eucalyptus pest. Biological aspects ofT. diatraeaewere evaluated under laboratory conditions.

Iridopsis panopla Prout (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is an important lepidopteran defoliator of eucalyptus. I. panopla eggs were collected naturally in a commercial plantation of Eucalyptus urograndis W. Hill (Myrtaceae) in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. After nine days, the natural emergence of Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) occurred from I. panopla eggs. Parasitism was evaluated under laboratory and field conditions, this being the first record for eucalyptus in Brazil. Based on the biological characteristics evaluated in the laboratory, I. panopla eggs are suitable for T. pretiosum reproduction. The obtained percentage parasitism, particularly when 72,000 adult females of T. pretiosum per hectare were employed, provide valuable insights regarding the potential of T. pretiosum as an effective biological control agent against I. panopla in eucalyptus plantations.

Parasitoid wasps play a fundamental role in the biological control of pests. However, their morphological identification may be limited due to their small size and the high morphological similarity between species. Our objective was to identify specific genomic variants of the target species Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare & LaSalle, 1993, Tetrastichus howardi (Olliff, 1893), Trichospilus diatraeae Cherian & Margabandhu, 1942, and Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879, (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) by whole-genomic sequencing. Parasitoids were collected from their hosts and established in the laboratory after adult emergence. A sample of each parasitoid was sent to the Departamento de Ciências Biológicas at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) and “Oscar Monte” Entomophagous Insect Collection for morphological identification. Subsequently, samples composed of 20 individuals were preserved in absolute ethanol for DNA extraction. The DNA was extracted, quantified and sequenced on the Illumina Novaseq 6000 platform. Bioinformatic tools were used for quality control, detection of specific genomic variants, principal component analysis (PCA), and support vector machine (SVM). Genomic sequencing generated high-quality data for the analyzed parasitoids, allowing the identification of four specific variants for P. elaeisis, two for Te. howardi, four for Ts. diatraeae and five for Tg. pretiosum. These results provide a precise molecular tool for distinguishing parasitoids used in biological control programs.