Host preference between symbiotic and aposymbiotic paracoccus marginatus, by the parasitoid, acerophagous papayae
Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae), an introduced solitary koinobiont endoparasitoid is considered as one of the efficient parasitoids for the suppression of Papaya mealybug (Muniappan et al., 2006). Disruption of microbial symbiosis demanded by insect pest and symbionts-mediated manipulation of insect pest traits are the two emerging trends in insect pest control. The present study was aimed to understand the parasitic potential, emergence rate and development time of parasitoid A. papayae against P.