Cyanopterus ninghais (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a newly discovered gregarious ectoparasitoid, is a promising biological control agent against the third-fifth instar larvae of the Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Effects of constant ambient temperatures (17, 20, 23, 26, 29, and 32 ℃) on the reproduction and development of the parasitoid were determined in the laboratory. We investigated the reproductive parameters of C. ninghais, including the pre-oviposition period, parasitism rate, offspring number, emergence rate, and sex ratio, at these six temperatures using 4th-instar larvae of M. alternatus as hosts, and the developmental duration of each developmental stage (egg, larva, and pupa) and generation at six temperatures was also measured. The pre-oviposition periods of C. ninghais decreased gradually with increasing temperatures. Both the parasitism rates and the number of offspring exhibited a parabolic trend in relation to increasing temperatures. Temperature did not significantly affect the emergence rate and sex ratio of progeny. The duration of each developmental stage was inversely correlated with temperature within the range of 20 to 32 ℃. We concluded that temperatures in the range of 26 to 29 ℃ are the most suitable for development and reproduction of C. ninghais. These findings provide important information for improving the artificial rearing efficiency and field release of this parasitoid under different temperature conditions.

This readme file describes the data files associated the above publication. For any further queries please contact xywang@caf.ac.cn

The following files are included:

1) "Pre-oviposition period at different temperatures.xlsx"

This is the original dataset on the pre-oviposition period of Cyanopterus ninghais at different temperatures. The explanation and main results are included in the manuscript, section "Materials and Methods" and "Figure 1".

2) "Parasitism rate.xlsx"

This is the original dataset on the number of hosts, the number of hosts parasitized, and parasitism rate of Cyanopterus ninghais at different temperatures. The explanation and main results are included in the manuscript, section "Materials and Methods" and "Figure 1".

3) "Offspring number and sex ratio.xlsx"

This is the original dataset on the number of cocoons, the number of adults emerged, emergence rate, number of females, and percentage of female of Cyanopterus ninghais at different temperatures. The explanation and main results are included in the manuscript, section "Materials and Methods" and "Figure 2".

''-'' indicates that although parasitoid cocoons were present, no adult parasitoids emerged from the parasitoid-exposed hosts at 17 °C.

4) "Durations of each developmental stage.xlsx"

This is the original dataset on the durations of each developmental stage of Cyanopterus ninghais at different temperatures. The explanation and main results are included in the manuscript, section "Materials and Methods", "Figure 3", "Table 1", and "Table 2".

''-'' indicates that although parasitoid cocoons were present, no adult parasitoids emerged from the parasitoid-exposed hosts at 17 °C.