Abstract
Bracon hebetor is a larval parasitoid of various lepidopterous insect pests. It was reared in laboratory on large scale on a host, waxmoth, Galleria mellonella, at different temperature and humidity percentages. Galleria mellonella was reared on an artificial diet at 30 ± 1°C and 75 ± 5 % R.H. It was observed in the experiment for storage of pupae that the number of surviving pupae decreased as the storage periods increased. However, the percentage of emergence reduced from 90 to 86% on 15 °C for the 1st and 2nd weeks, respectively. The study on reproductive and post-reproductive life (PRL) of the female prarasitoid revealed that the longevity ranged from 17 to 32 days with an average of 23.17 ± 3.80 days. It is assumable that the observed increase in PRL, with host density, was due to the females, obtaining more energy by taking more frequent blood-meals from greater number of hosts.
