title: Host acceptance and discrimination byComperia merceti (Compere) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and evidence for an optimal density range for resource utilization.
abstract: The cement used by females ofSupella longipala (F.) (Orthoptera∶Blattellidae) to bind their oothecae to substrates acts as a kairomone for host acceptance by the parasitoidComperia merceti. C. merceti discriminates parasitized from unparasitized oothecae and oviposts at reduced levels in the former. Low survival rates for parasitoids reared from oothecae receiving fewer than four ovipositions suggests that an "optimal density range" for resource utilization byC. merceti exists.
authors: Department of Entomology, University of Massachusetts, 01003, Amherst, Massachusetts.
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: Van Driesche
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Hulbert