N Save Nature to Survive 11(4): 2071-2075, 2016 www.thebioscan.com 2071 CUL CUL CUL CUL CULTURE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF TURE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF TURE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF TURE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF TURE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF TRICHOGRAMMA TRICHOGRAMMA TRICHOGRAMMA TRICHOGRAMMA TRICHOGRAMMA FROM PUNJ FROM PUNJ FROM PUNJ FROM PUNJ FROM PUNJAB AND ITS LAB AB AND ITS LAB AB AND ITS LAB AB AND ITS LAB AB AND ITS LABORA ORA ORA ORA ORATOR TOR TOR TOR TORY TEST Y TEST Y TEST Y TEST Y TEST- ING A ING A ING A ING A ING AGAINST POPLAR DEFOLIA AINST POPLAR DEFOLIA AINST POPLAR DEFOLIA AINST POPLAR DEFOLIA AINST POPLAR DEFOLIATOR TOR TOR TOR TOR MOHD. YOUSUF, MOHSIN IKRAM, SALMAN KHAN* AND MANOJ KUMAR AZAD Forest Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute, New Forest - 248 006, Dehra Dun ,Uttarakhand,INDIA e-mail: salman1315@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Westwood (1833) erected the genus Trichogramma, with the type species Trichogramma evanescens. This is the most familiar genus among entomologists, as its several species have been widely utilized for biological control of key insect pests of agricultural crops, commercial cash crops, vegetables and forest insect pests (Debach and Rosen, 1991). In India, different exotic Trichogramma spp. have been utilized in biological control of many insect pests of agricultural importance including cotton, rice, sugarcane etc., but indigenous species of Trichogramma have neither been taken in culture nor applied in biological control of insect pests including poplar defoliator. Therefore, for the first time culture of indigenousTrichogramma spp. has been taken from Punjab which was finally identified as Trichogramma chilonis.Culture was maintained in laboratory on the eggs of Corcyra cephalonica. The detailed morphometric and taxonomic characters have been studied for the proper identification up to species level. Also the Trichogramma chilonis has been tested against the eggs of Poplar defoliator (Clostera fulgurita).In India, record on release of Trichogramma chilonis in forestry goes as early as 1937 (Beeson, 1941). The Trichogramma spp. are reared in the laboratory on the eggs of Corcyra cephalonica. Yousuf (2005) gave the complete technique of the rearing of Corcyra cephalonica. He has also tested T. chilonis against teak defoliators, Eutectona machaeralis and Hyblaea puera. Yousuf et al. (2012) have given the pre- treatment of Corcyra cephalonica eggs for maximum production of the wasps of Trichogramma spp. This technique was also utilized for taking the culture of Trichogramma spp. from the fields (Yousuf, 2008). The cultures taken from the field is being reared following the same methodology. Proper conditions for the better growth of Corcyra cephalonica and eventually Trichogramma spp. have been suggested from different workers. Nadeem et al. (2009) reared the T. chilonis on different temperature regime. Similarly, Wadaskar et al. (2015) worked on the effect of temperature on the biology of Corcyra cephalonica which is being used in the maintenance of Trichogramma spp. in laboratory. The objective of the present work is to study the detailed morphometric characters so that the culture of same species can be identified easily by subsequent worker of the field and can authentically be applied in biological control of insect pests. So to identify the Trichogramma at microscopic level we go for morphometrics analysis. Choudhury et al. (2011) have worked on the morphometrics aspects for distinguishing the different species of genus Puntius. Similarly, Burks and Heraty (2002) have done morphometrics studies of four species of Trichogramma namely, T. californicum, T. exiguum, T. minutum and T. platneri. Querino and Zucchi (2002) worked onTrichogramma bruni to study morphological variations in the Genital Capsule. Nagararkatti and Nagaraja were given brief description of T. australicum (Girault, 1912) and re-described as T. australicum (Nagararkatti and Nagaraja, 1971). Later, Nagararkatti and Nagaraja (1977) concluded that their T. australicum was in fact T. chilonis Ishii (Nagarkatti and Nagaraja, 1979) but details ABSTRACT An indigenous species of Trichogramma: T. chilonis Ishii have been collected from Punjab, India. Morphometrics and diagnostic characters (Body length, head length & width; eye width & malar space; setae in RS1, RS2 & r-m vein tracks and setae between RS1 & r-m vein tracks; female & male genitalia) were measured in detail. The body length of male T. chilonis was found smaller than the female. The genital length and width of male T. chilonis were ranges from 0.117 to 0.138 mm and 0.05 to 0.08 mm respectively. Ovipositor length were ranges from 0.150 to 0.198 mm. The average ratio of fore wings length and width for female and male were 2.06 and 1.89 respectively. The setae in RS1, RS2, r-m and between RS2 & r-m were almost similar for both males and females. The T. chilonis have also been tested against Poplar defoliator, Clostera fulgurita in one pair and 5 pairs and shows the parasitization rate of 18.80% and 58.90% respectively. KEYWORDS Genitalia Hymenoptera Morphometrics Trichogrammatidae Trichogramma chilonis Received on : 04.09.2016 Accepted on : 17.11.2016 *Corresponding author