Life cycle of aphid parasitoids

Abstract

The paper introduces the life cycle of aphid parasitoids, because they have an important role in reducing populations of aphids in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Special characteristics of aphids is their reproductive ability. Some species from Aphididae family can have more than 50 generations (sexual and asexual or parthenogenetic) per year and that makes them important pests of cultivated and wild-growing plants. That is why we want to suppress them in any possible way. With biological control we try to establish natural balance between pests and their natural enemies, and so prevent the increse in number of pests. Parasitoids are very effective, because in final stage of larva parasitoid always kills its host. Besides that, parasitoids are polyphagous insects and in most cases are not specialized just for one species.