In vitro rearing of Exorista larvarum on tissue culture‐based diets

Exorista (= Tachina) larvarum (L.) (Diptera, Tachinidae), a polyphagous parasitoid that attacks Lymantria dispar L. and Hyphantria cunea (Drury), was reared in vitro from egg to adult on four tissue culture media‐based diets (TMM‐FH, SCHNEIDER'S, EX‐CELL 400, and SF‐900). The kind of tissue culture media in the diets did not influence the adult yield (34 to 55%) and puparium weight (26–27 mg). Adult yield and the puparium weight of E. larvarum developed on TNM‐FH and SCHNEIDER'S‐based diets containing different amounts of Galleria mellonella pupal extract (PE) (0, 1.25, 2.5 and 5%), were lower on diets without PE. In diets without PE development times from oviposition to adult emergence, were shorter on TNM‐FH (19 days) than on SCHNEIDER'S‐based diet (25–26 days). The adults that developed on artificial diets were able to parasitize the factitious host G. mellonella and produce viable progeny. The results demonstrate that E. larvarum is the most promising parasitoid ever studied for in vitro mass production.