November 1970] SCIENTIFIC NOTES 1783

A Method for Sexing Living Pupal and situated just behind the 7th visible abdominal sternite
Adult Yellow Mealworms1 which is the sternite of the 8th abdominal segment (Fig.
1). In the male a small swelling which protrudes from
beneath the 7th abdominal sternite bears a pair of short
A. K. BHATTACHARYA, J. J. AMEEL, and blunt papillae which are closely approximated on
AND G. P. WALDBAUER the mesal line. In the female the homologous swelling
Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, is somewhat larger and bears a pair of widely diverging
Urbana 61801 papillae which are situated at its latero-caudal angles.
A comparison with the determination of sex by dissec-
While conducting nutritional studies with the yellow tion of the adult genitalia showed that the characters de-
mealworm, Tencbrio molitor L., we found it necessary scribed here are completely reliable. For this purpose we
to determine the sex of living pupae and adults. At- collected 200 pupae from our laboratory culture and
tempts to sex adults by withdrawing the genitalia from separated males and females by means of the external
the abdomen with forceps usually resulted in the injury characters. The 2 groups of pupae were allowed to de-
or death of the beetles. When a search of the literature velop to the adult stage, and their sex was again deter-
proved of no help we examined specimens in hope of mined by means of externally visible characters. The
finding externally visible sexual characteristics. We genitalia of each animal were then dissected and ex-
found differences by which the sex of both living pupae amined. In each case this method confirmed the deter-
and adults can be rapidly and reliably determined under mination of sex which had been made by means of ex-
a dissecting microscope. We have been using the char- ternal pupal and adult characters.
acters described here to sex adults and pupae since 1967. We owe thanks to Mrs. Alice Prickett for making the
Adult males and females can be distinguished by means drawings.
of structural differences in the 4th and 5th visible ab-
dominal sternites (Fig. 1). The caudal margin of the
5th abdominal sternite of the male is comparatively blunt,
and comparatively wide bands of intersegmental mem-
1
brane arc visible between the 3rd and 4th and between Parasites of Pink Bollworm
2
in
the 4th and 5th abdominal sternites. The caudal margin Southern California
of the 5th abdominal sternite of the female is somewhat
more pointed, and only narrow bands of intersegmental D. N. FERRO 3 AND R. E. RICE4
membrane are visible between the last 3 visible abdom-
inal sternites. Some experience is needed to sex adults
rapidly and with confidence. Three previously unreported parasites of the pink boll-
The sex of pupae can be determined by noting the worm, Pcctinophora gossypiclla (Saunders), were col-
form of the developing genital structures; these are lected from the Coachella Valley of Southern California
during late summer and fall of 1968. The parasites were
1
This research was supported by Cooperative Agreement no.
found attacking pink bollworm larvae which were in dia-
12-14-100-9031(51) between the University of Illinois and the Mar- pause in cocoons in litter and surface trash in a small,
ket Quality Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, isolated cotton field. The cotton was not treated with
L'SDA. Received for publication May 21, 1970.
insecticides during the 1968 season.
The most common parasite found was Gambrus ultimus
(Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). This insect
5 t h visible sternite occurs throughout the United States and has been re-
ported from many hosts (Townes and Townes 1962).
The rate of pink bollworm parasitism by G. ultimus in
the field ran as high as 46.5% in a collection of six 1-ft2
litter samples taken on Nov. 18. Developing larvae and
pupal exuviae of G. ultimus were combined in determin-
ing the rate of parasitism.
G. ultimus was reared on pink bollworm in the labora-
tory, using several different techniques. In 1 method, 15
ADULT mature pink bollworm larvae were placed in each of four
1-gal glass jars containing dried leaves, blooms, and open
bolls of cotton. Two $ and 2 $ of G. ultimus were
placed in each of 2 of the jars; 2 virgin females were
placed in each of the remaining 2 jars. The parasites
were left in the jars for 3 clays and were fed a water
7th visible sternite-^ and honey solution. Parasitism of pink bollworm larvae
in the laboratory by this method averaged 63%. Male
and female parasites emerged from jars which had con-
tained both male and female parents (sex ratio 1.4 $ :1.0
$ ) , but only males emerged from the 2 jars containing
the unmated female parasites.

1
Pcctinophora gossypiclla (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechi-
idae).2
PUPA 3
Received for publication May 18, 1970.
Department of Entomology, University of California, River-
Slde
FlG. 1.—Ventral aspects of the ends of the abdomens 49DSep2artment o f Entomology, University of California, Davis
of adult and pupal male and female T. molitor. 95616.