Effect of Different Rice Varieties on Age Specific Life Table and Population Growth Parameters of Trichogramma brassicae, the Egg Parasitoid of the Striped Stem Borer, Chilo suppressalis

Effect of different rice varieties، as the first link of the food chain، on age specific life table and population growth parameters of the egg parasitoid wasp، Trichogramma brassicae Bezdenko، as the third link of the food chain was studied. Four commonly planted rice varieties، including two early maturity cultivars namely، Tarom-Mahalli and Tarom-Hashemi and two late maturity cultivars namely، Fajr and Neda were considered as the hosts of stripped stem borer، Chilo supressalis Walker. Stripped stem borer was reared on each variety for two generations. The eggs of the 2nd generation from each rice variety exposed to egg parasitoid wasps inside test tubes for experiments. Based on the collected data، the most important life table parameters، survival rate (lx)، age specific fertility (mx)، probability of surviving (px)، probability of dying (qx)، difference in survivorship (dx)، life expectancy (ex) and population growth parameters، net reproductive rate (R0)، intrinsic rate of increase (rm)، finite rate of increase (λ)، mean generation time (T)، and doubling time (DT) of were estimated.