Telenomus remus (Nixon)

(Insecta: Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)

Telenomus remus is an egg parasitoid of noctuid species, especially of the Spodoptera pest complex.

The minute adult wasps are dark brown. Females lay individual eggs into host eggs and are very effective at parasitizing an entire egg mass. Larval development inside the host egg can be completed in 10 days.

Naturally occurring in New Guinea and Sarawak, Telenomus remus is being used in the Old and New World as a biological control agent. It is now present in Florida, although its first introduction into the state in the 1970s did not lead to successful population establishment.

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Adult female wasp of Telenomus sp. (likely Telenomus remus) probing eggs of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)

Dorsal view of Telenomus sp. (likely Telenomus remus) on eggs of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)