Fecundity, longevity, and sex ratio of Goniozus nigrifemur (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)

Longevity, fecundity, and sex ratio of progeny at emergence of Goniozus nigrifemur Ashmead, a gregarious ectoparasitic bethylid, were investigated. Males lived 17.5 +/- 5.8 (95% CI) days. Females provided with pink bollworm hosts lived 90.2 +/- 17.4 days, while females deprived of hosts lived only 41.5 +/- 7.1 days. Females provided with hosts oviposited an average 184.42 +/- 33.94 eggs during their lifetime. While the number of eggs in a clutch was positively associated with the number of males in a clutch, the proportion of males in a clutch was negatively correlated with the number of eggs in a clutch. Females always oviposit the haploid, male egg last in a sequence of eggs comprising a clutch. The significance of females ovipositing haploid and diploid eggs in a predictable sequence is addressed and related to sex ratio in the Hymenoptera. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.