It seems to be clear that the highest larval reduction percentage in faecal cultures is related to the maximum elimination of fungal material into faeces.
Larval performance was studied by following larvae enclosed in cages from newly moulted second instars to third instars in the field.
One larva was observed to pass through six larval stages.
In other words, the longer the female's larval and pupal stages were, the bigger were her eggs.
Both species of parasitoid delay larval development until the host has reached full size and has entered the ground to pupate.
The populations examined in this study also showed significant variability in larval growth rate (fig. 2a).
Levels of natural populations of larval parasitoids were measured by their parasitism rate.
Larval density was not precisely controlled, and with this procedure ranged between 100 and 200 individuals per vial.
