Evaluating the natural parasitism of the Millet head miner

Eggs of the MHM were collected every rainy season (August- September) from 2014 to 2016 in farmers’ pearl millet fields in different environments of Niger (9 villages in 2014, 7 villages in 2015 and 17 villages in 2016) in approximately 100 farms every year. The eggs were collected from approximately 5000 panicles every year and were reared in the laboratory at ambient temperature until the emergence of parasitoids. The natural parasitism was assessed based on the number of parasitized eggs out of the total number of collected eggs (5700–7000 eggs). Emerging parasitoids were identified and sexed.