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The invasive Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), is a destructive xylophagous forest pest species originating from Asia. Several endemic North American hymenopteran (Braconidae) species in the mid-Atlantic region were capable of attacking and reproducing on A. glabripennis larvae in laboratory bioassays. Ontsira mellipes Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) has been continually reared on A. glabripennis larvae at USDA-ARS BIIRU since 2010, and has been identified as a potential new-association biocontrol agent. Two experiments were conducted to investigate parasitism, paralysis, reproductive biology, larval development, and longevity of adult O. mellipes. In the first experiment, pairs of adult parasitoids were given single A. glabripennis larvae every 2 d (along with honey and water) over their lifetimes, while in the second experiment individual parasitoids were observed daily from egg to adult, and adults were subsequently starved. Adults in the first experiment parasitized ~21% of beetle larvae presented to them throughout their life, and paralysis of larvae occurred 1-2 d after oviposition. More than half of the individual pairs parasitized A. glabripennis larvae, with each female producing around 26 offspring throughout her life. In the second experiment, median development time of O. mellipes from egg to adult was about 3 wk, with five larval instars. Adult O. mellipes that were provided with host larvae, honey, and water lived 9 d longer than host-deprived and starved adults. These findings indicate that mass-rearing procedures for O. mellipes may be developed using the new association host for development of effective biocontrol programs against A. glabripennis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), is a polyphagous wood-boring insect native to Asia. Since it invaded North America in the 1990s, the beetle has been continuously targeted by quarantines and eradication programs in the United States and Canada. We examined the potential for development of new species-associations between A. glabripennis and hymenopteran parasitoids collected from cerambycids and other wood-boring insects infesting red maple (Acer rubrum L.) trees in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Results of our study showed that five groups of braconid parasitoids (Ontsira mellipes Ashmead, Rhoptrocentrus piceus Marsh, Spathius laflammei Provancher, Heterospilus spp., and Atanycolus spp.) successfully attacked early instars of A. glabripennis larvae infesting red maple logs and produced both male and female progenies. One species, O. mellipes, was continuously reared on A. glabripennis larvae inserted inside small red maple sticks for over 50 generations, and produced female-biased progeny (~6:1 female to male ratio) at each generation. Continuous rearing of O. mellipes on A. glabripennis larvae did not significantly increase the parasitism and mean number of progeny produced per parasitized host. Together, these findings demonstrate that some North American parasitoids may be able to develop new associations with A. glabripennis and thus should be further studied under semifield or field conditions for possible use in biocontrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]