Brachycoryphus nursei (Cameron)

It is a solitary, mostly ectophagous pupal parasitoid but occasionally it develops internally. It is also unique in attacking and parasitising host larvae, prepupae and pupae. It is the only Ichneumonid parasitoid of Opisina arenosella which paralyses the host caterpillars. The parasitoid has poor searching ability. It indiscriminately deposits numerous eggs on a host eventually to produce only individual parasitoid. In the laboratory it produces more number of males. The parasitoid is more active in cooler season.

The adult parasitoids are caged in glass bottles (18x9 cm), honey is provided as food as small droplets on wax coated paper. Four to five fully grown Opisina arenosella caterpillars are placed inside petridishes (10 cm diameter) and kept undisturbed for about 48 hours to allow them to spin cocoons for pupation. Two females are introduced into the petridish for egg laying. After oviposition the adult female parasitoids are again transferred to glass bottles.

The female partially disorganises the host tissues with strong ovipositor thrusts and feeds on the host haemolymph at regular intervals.

The egg period lasts one day, larval period 6-8 days (on hosts not fed by female parasitoid) or 9-12 days (on hosts fed by the female), pupal period is completed in 6-9 days, the entire life cycle is completed in 13-21 days. The adults live for one to 4 months.