Life table and biological characteristics of Anastatus acherontiae an egg parasitoid on Streblote siva under laboratory conditions

Anastatus acherontiae is the native egg parasitoid of Streblote siva and Acherontia atropos in Bushehr, southern Iran. The life table parameters and demography of A. acherontiae was studied on S. siva based on the age-stage, two-sex life table under laboratory conditions (a light/temperature cycle of L16h/26°C, D8h/18°C and 65±5% RH) using TWO SEX-MS Chart program. The mean and standard errors of the life table parameters were estimated using paired bootstrap method with 200,000 iterations. Results showed that A. acherontiae was able to complete its development on S. siva eggs. The intrinsic rate of increase, the finite rate of increase, the mean generation time and the net reproductive rate of A. acherontiae on host eggs were 0.059 day-1, 1.06 times per day, 65.48 days and 47.72 offspring per generation, respectively. The valuable data gained on the life table parameters of A. acherontiae can be consider as a candidate classical biological control agent with inundative release for some key pests.