Abstract:

Dastarcus helophoroides（Coleoptera: Bothrideridae）an important cerambycid parasitoid beetle，can parasitize larva，pupa of many largesized longhorn beetles, suchas Asian Longhorned Beetle, in China. In order to make better use of this parasitoid to biologically control the pest longhorn beetles，the behavior of D. helophoroides was studied in this paper. with a self designed observation box，we studied the daily behavioral rhythm of D. helophoroides adult，and their photokinesis，mating behavior，as well as their behavioral rhythm influenced by darkness. Results showed that adults were active from dusk to next morning，and their behavioral rhythm could be disturbed by long period of darkness. Adults had slight tropism to wards dim red light. Mating posture of female and male adults displayed a “—" shape. The vision was not used for the adults to find their host larvae of longhorned beetle wrapped with paraffin under dim red light. The result showed that the vision of the parasitoid was not able to differentiate larva of longhorned beetle from wood. During the most active period of the most active period of the adult, by imitating natural action character of the parasitoid，its disperse capability was investigated. It was found that adults of D. helophoroides have strong fly ability. These results would be helpful to develop techniques for mass rearing D. helophoroides indoor and releasing them out to control longhorned beetles. 

Key words: Dastarcus helophoroides, behavior, photokinesis