Braconid Wasps: A Biological Control Method For The Common Furniture Beetle (Coleoptera: Anobiidae)

Abstract:
The aim of our research was to develop and test a biological control method for A. punctatum. After mass rearing of the host-specific braconid wasp species Spathius exarator (L.), laboratory control tests of the parasitism rate were conducted. Praxis tests of the efficiency of the braconid wasps were performed in six churches for the duration of two years. Monitoring of success was based on exit holes from wasps and A. punctatum. Laboratory control tests with defined numbers of living A. punctatum larvae in small lumbers showed 79% parasitism by braconid wasps after three months and 98% parasitism after ten months. The results of the praxis tests revealed a steady increase of emerging braconid wasps in all churches; up to 80% less new exit holes of A. puncatum were counted in 2013 compared to 2012. The results demonstrate the biological control of A. punctatum with the braconid wasps.