Control Efficiency of Bracon hebetor Say against Ephestia elutella (Hübner)

To evaluate the control efficiency of Bracon hebetor Say against Ephestiae elutella (Hübner), we investigated the paralysis preference, functional response, mutual interference, and density of male on the paralysis of female B. hebetor on E. elutella under the laboratory condition. The results showed that B. hebetor preferred to paralyze E.elutella fifth instar larvae, and its paralysis rate was 74.00%±2.67%. Functional response of B. hebetor to E. elutella was fitted by type Ⅱ model. The value of attack rate coefficients (α), the shortest handling time (T_h) and the daily maximum numbers (T/T_h) were 0.085/h, 0.187 h and 128.06 individuals, respectively. The interference coefficient of B. hebetor on E. elutella was 0.316. The per capita paralysis rate and per capita searching efficiency of B. hebetor on E. elutella both significantly decreased from 0.566 to 0.272, and 0.836 to 0.476, respectively. Different density of B. hebetor males did not affect the paralysis efficiency of their females on E. elutella. Based on the results, B. hebetor has great potential in controlling E. elutella and has good development prospects for green prevention of E. elutella in tobacco storage.