Tarbiat Modares University Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 1680-7073 28 5 2026 09 01 Temperature-Dependent Development of Exorista larvarum (Diptera: Tachinidae): An Efficient Candidate for Biological Pest Control 1207 1224 24116 10.48311/jast.2026.24116 EN Amene Karami Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Ali Asghar Talebi Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. 0000-0001-5749-6391 Yaghoub Fathipour Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. 0000-0002-7963-5409 Mohammad Mehrabadi Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Journal Article 2025 09 16 Climatic conditions are the most important factor in the distribution and abundance of living organisms, with temperature serving as a critical factor influencing the development of insect pests and their natural enemies. Thermal models are a key component of modern integrated pest management (IPM) systems. The Exorista larvarum (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Tachinidae), a gregarious larval endoparasitoid, serves as a biocontrol agent against several lepidopteran pests affecting both forest and agricultural ecosystems. To optimize the mass rearing of E. larvarum and improve its application in IPM programs, the developmental times of this parasitoid were investigated under seven constant temperatures (15-35 °C) in laboratory conditions. We applied two linear and 26 nonlinear models to describe the temperature-dependent development rate of E. larvarum. The lower temperature threshold (T₀) and thermal constant (K) were estimated to be 5.09 °C and 389.41 DD using the ordinary linear model and 9.73 °C and 292.74 DD using the Ikemoto model, respectively. Among the nonlinear models, Performance-2, Beta, Janisch/Kontodimas, Analytis-1, and Analytis-3/Kontodimas were the best models to describe the temperature-dependent development rate of the parasitoid. The estimated T_fast values by Performance-2 and Janisch/Kontodimas models were 33.2 and 31.4 °C, respectively, closely were the closest to T_fast observed (32.5 °C). Our findings can help to gain new and valuable insights into the biology of E. larvarum and provide essential information that can be incorporated into forecasting models of this parasitoid. https://jast.modares.ac.ir/article_24116_3bf3dc7172bfe2666db8b4798fe7c193.pdf