The Parasitoid Complex of Forest Tent Caterpillar, \u3ci\u3eMalacosoma Disstria\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), in Eastern Wyoming Shelterbelts

A parasitoid complex affecting the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria, was investigated during 1978-79 in shelterbelts in eastern Wyoming. Egg parasitoids included five species: Ablerus clisiocampae, Ooencyrtus clisiocampae, Telenomus clisiocampae, Tetrastichus sp. 1 and Telenomus sp. Thirteen hymenopterous species and five dipterous species were reared from larvae and pupae of the forest tent caterpillar. The most common 5th-instar larval parasitoids were the tachinid flies, Lespesia archippivora and Archytas lateralis. Of the pupal parasitoids reared, 640/0 were Diptera and 36% were Hymenoptera. Four previously unrecorded parasitoids of M. disstria were reared: Cotesia alalantae, Macrocentrus irridescens, Pimpla sanguinipes erythropus, and Lespesia flavifrons.

Host and Habitat Use by Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of House Fly and Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Pupae

House fly and stable fly pupae were collected during the summer from a dairy farm in northern Illinois. Spalangia nigroaenea accounted for most of the parasitoids recovered from house flies. Spalangia nigra, S. endius, Muscidifurax spp., and S. nigroaenea accounted for most of the parasitoids from stable flies. The majority of flies were house flies late in the summer and stable flies early in the summer. Higher percentages of house flies tended to be in samples containing lower substrate moisture and higher substrate temperature. Parasitism of stable flies started earlier and peaked weeks before that of house flies, with overall parasitism highest from mid-to late-summer. Parasitism of house flies, but not stable flies, differed significantly among habitats, being greater in calf hutches than in edge samples. Hymenopterous parasitoids from house flies tended to include a greater percentage of S. nigroaenea (and a lower percentage of Muscidifurax spp.) in calf hutches versus drainage or edge habitats and in sub- strates consisting of mostly wood shavings versus mostly manure. Within samples, differential parasitism of fly species was not detected for S. nigroaenea, S. endius, or Muscidifurax spp.; but S. nigra preferentially parasitized stable flies

Population dynamics of phyllocnistis citrella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and its parasitoids in Tafí Viejo, Tucumán, Argentina

Seasonal abundance of the citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), was investigated between Nov 1999 and Apr 2003 in Tafí Viejo (Tucuman province). Phyllocnistis citrella populations increased during spring and summer, declined during fall, and disappeared in the winter. Five species of parasitoids, one exotic and four indigenous, attacked citrus leafminer immature stages in commercial and experimental lemon orchards. Ageniaspis citricola Logvinovskaya (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was the most abundant parasitoid. Cirrospilus neotropicus Diez & Fidalgo (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was the most abundant indigenous species, followed by Galeopsomyia fausta LaSalle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). The other indigenous species were not common and were only occasionally collected from citrus leafminer larvae. Parasitoids and P. citrella exhibited similar population fluctuations throughout the entire sampling period. A certain degree of synchrony exists between the most abundant parasitoids (A. citricola, C. neotropicus, and G. fausta) and the pest. The highest rates of parasitism were observed in the fall. Ageniaspis citricola exhibited approximately 29.5% parasitism, whereas all the native species together were only 8.2%. Data showed that a clear dependence existed between percentages of parasitism and citrus leafminer population density for the most frequent parasitoid populations. The results of this study show that C. neotropicus has an important role among the native species present in Argentina.Fil: Diez, Patricia Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Peña, Jorge E.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Fidalgo, Patricio. University of Florida; Estados Unido

Natural parasitism of the Citrus Leafminer (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) over eight years in seven citrus regions of São Paulo, Brazil

The citrus leafminer (CLM) Phyllocnists citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) was frst recorded in Brazil in 1996. In 1998, the parasitoid Ageniaspis citricola Logvinovskaya (Hymenoptera: Encyrtdae) was introduced and established in many regions of the country. In this study, 130 onehour-samplings of sweet orange leaves (Citrus sinensis [L.] Osbeck) hostng CLM pupal chambers were carried out to estmate the CLM parasitsm rate (%) by its parasitoids in 7 regions of São Paulo State between 2000 and 2008. The sample sizes varied from 10 to 275 leaves (mean = 65). The most abundant parasitoid was the encyrtd A. citricola (found in 91.8% of the samplings). The highest level of CLM parasitsm by A. citricola was recorded in the southern region (Botucatu), 70.2 ± 6.6 (mean ± SEM), and the lowest level was recorded in the northern region (Barretos), 12.8 ± 5.7%. CLM parasitsm by A. citricola and by natve parasitoids (Galeopsomyia fausta LaSalle, Cirrospilus spp. and Elasmus sp.) did not differ between seasons. The 6-fold increase in the use of insectcides in citrus groves, afer 2004 when the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease was found in São Paulo State, did not reduce the level of CLM parasitsm. The level of parasitsm was 50.8 ± 4.2% before the advent of HLB (2000–2004) and 56.0 ± 4.4% thereafer (2005–2008), indicatng adaptaton of A. citricola in a disturbed agroecosystem.A minadora das folhas dos citros (MFC), Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), foi encontrada pela primeira vez no Brasil em 1996. Em 1998, o parasitoide Ageniaspis citricola Logvinovskaya (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) foi introduzido e se estabeleceu em várias regiões do país. Nesse estudo, foram feitas130 amostragens, de uma hora, de folhas de laranjeiras doces [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] com câmaras pupais da MFC, para se estimar o parasitismo da MFC em 7 regiões do estado de São Paulo, entre 2000 e 2008. O tamanho das amostras variou de 10 a 275 folhas (média = 65). O parasitoide mais abundante foi o encirtídeo A. citricola (encontrado em 91.8% das amostragens). O maior parasitismo da MFC por A. citricola foi observado na região sul do estado (Botucatu), 70,2 ± 6,6 (média ± EPM), e o menor parasitismo na região norte (Barretos), 12,8 ± 5,7%. O parasitismo da MFC por A. citricola e seus parasitoides nativos (Galeopsomyia fausta LaSalle, Cirrospilus spp. and Elasmus sp.) não diferiram entre as estações do ano. O aumento de seis vezes no uso de inseticidas nos pomares de citros, após 2004, quando o Huanglongbing (HLB) foi encontrado no estado de São Paulo, não reduziu o nível de parasitismo da MFC. O nível médio de parasitismo foi de 50,8 ± 4,2%, antes do HLB (2000-2004), e 56,0 ± 4,4%, após o HLB (2005-2008), indicando a adaptação de A. citricola a um agroecossistema perturbado.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biological Control of Alfalfa Blotch Leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in Ontario: Status and Ecology of Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Eulophidae) 20 Years After Introduction

Two European parasitoid species were released in Ontario during the late 1970\u27s to control the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Rondani) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). One of these, Dacnusa dryas (Nixon) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), rapidly became established and the other, Chrysocharis liriomyzae (= C. punctifacies) (Delucchi) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was never recovered in Ontario. In 1999, we found both D. dryas and C. liriomyzae parasitizing first-generation A. frontella in Ontario in 1999. The combined parasitism rate for both species as revealed by larval dissections was 97.5% by the end of the first A. frontella generation. Of the adult parasitoids reared, 86% were D. dryas and 14% were C. liriomyzae. Most parasitized larvae contained a single unencapsulated (i.e., healthy) larva, along with one or more encapsulated eggs. No larvae were encapsulated, but the overall egg encapsulation rate was 47%. By the end of the first A. frontella generation, 86% of parasitized hosts contained at least one unencapsulated parasitoid and could therefore produce an adult parasitoid, and 12% of parasitized hosts escaped parasitism by containing only encapsulated parasitoids. The sex ratio of D. dryas was even at emergence, but strongly female-biased in sweep samples from the field. Egg loads of D. dryas females were all greater than zero and as high in the field as our highest laboratory estimates, suggesting that egg availability does not limit fitness under the conditions that we observed in the field

A catalogue of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from India

A catalogue of aphidiine parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) associated with various aphids species occurring in India was compiled. The present catalogue with 125 species under 22 genera has been further reinforced with not only all the latest taxonomic changes but also host names, host plants, distribution in India etc

Augmentative releases of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) control in a fruit-growing region of Argentina

Field-open augmentative releases were conducted to assess the efficacy of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) for the regulation of Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann) infesting Ficus carica (L.) in a commercial area located in a fruit-producing irrigated-valley of San Juan, central-western Argentina. Parasitoids were reared on Sensitive Lethal Temperature Vienna-8 strain of C. capitata at the BioPlanta San Juan facilities, and were weekly released throughout 9 weeks over two experimental plots of ca. 2.3 ha each with a density of 5200 wasps/plot. Host mortality and medfly emergence at the release plots were significantly 1.9-times higher and 1.5-times lower, respectively, than those recorded in the control plots. D. longicaudata females increase their effectiveness on medfly at both higher temperature (22–23 °C) and relative humidity (54–62%) values. Parasitoid females used in the study showed a good ability to spread once released in open-field. Between 16 and 75% of host mortality during the parasitoid release period was due to D. longicaudata, which appears to be promising for the control of medfly in San Juan as well as in other similar Argentinean fruit-growing semi-arid regions.Fil: Sánchez, Guillermo. Provincia de San Juan. Ministerio de Producción y Desarrollo Económico. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Agroindustria. Programa de Control y Erradicación de Mosca de los Frutos; ArgentinaFil: Murúa, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; Argentina. Provincia de San Juan. Ministerio de Producción y Desarrollo Económico. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Agroindustria. Programa de Control y Erradicación de Mosca de los Frutos; ArgentinaFil: Suárez, Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Provincia de San Juan. Ministerio de Producción y Desarrollo Económico. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Agroindustria. Programa de Control y Erradicación de Mosca de los Frutos; ArgentinaFil: Van Nieuwenhove, Guido Alejandro. Fundación Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Taret, Gustavo Abelardo Ariel. Provincia de San Juan. Ministerio de Producción y Desarrollo Económico. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Agroindustria. Programa de Control y Erradicación de Mosca de los Frutos; ArgentinaFil: Pantano, Valeria. Provincia de San Juan. Dirección de Sanidad Vegetal, Animal y Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Bilbao, Mariana. Provincia de San Juan. Ministerio de Producción y Desarrollo Económico. Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Agroindustria. Programa de Control y Erradicación de Mosca de los Frutos; ArgentinaFil: Schliserman, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Catamarca. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Ovruski Alderete, Sergio Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; Argentin

Parasitoids of \u3ci\u3eChionaspis Pinifoliae\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Diaspididae) in Iowa

Three parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae: Aphelininae), Aphytis diaspidis, Coccobius varicornis, and Marietta pulchella, were recovered from field collections of the pine needle scale, Chionaspis pinifoliae, on Pinus sylvestris in central Iowa. Parasitoid mean time (± SEM) to emergence from overwintered scale mummies occurred at 46.6 (4.6) and 23.9 (1.3) days for C. varicornis and M. pulchella, respectively, using a 16L:8D photoperiod and a corresponding temperature regime of 22°C and 18°C. Growing-season parasitism level on field-collected female C. pinifoliae was 15%; parasitoid community composition was 86% A. diaspidis, 12% C. varicornis, and 2% M. pulchella

Comparing and contrasting development and reproductive strategies in the pupal hyperparasitoids Lysibia nana and Gelis agilis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

In most animals, the optimal phenotype is determined by trade-offs in life-history traits. Here, I compare development and reproductive strategies in two species of solitary secondary hyperparasitoids, Lysibia nana and Gelis agilis, attacking pre-pupae of their primary parasitoid host, Cotesia glomerata. Parasitoid larvae of both species exploit a given amount of host resources with similar efficiency. However, adults exhibit quite different reproductive strategies. Both species are synovigenic, and female wasps emerge with no mature eggs. However, G. agilis must first host-feed to produce eggs, while L. nana does not host-feed but mobilizes internal resources carried over from larval feeding to initiate oogenesis. Further, G. agilis is wingless, produces large eggs, has a long life-span, and generates only small numbers of progeny per day, whereas these traits are reversed in L. nana. Given unlimited hosts, the fecundity curve in L. nana was “front-loaded,” whereas in G. agilis it was depressed and extended over much of adult life. In L. nana (but not G. agilis), wasps provided with honey but no hosts lived significantly longer than wasps provided with both honey and hosts. Differences in the fecundity curves of the two hyperparasitoids are probably based on differing costs of reproduction between them, with the wingless G. agilis much more constrained in finding hosts than the winged L. nana. Importantly, L. nana is known to be a specialist hyperparasitoid of gregarious Cotesia species that pupate in exposed locations on the food plant, whereas Gelis sp. attack and develop in divergent hosts such as parasitoid cocoons, moth pupae and spider egg sacs. Consequently, there is a strong match between brood size in C. glomerata and egg production in L. nana, but a mismatch between these parameters in G. agilis.

Investigations into stability in the fig/ fig-wasp mutualism

Fig trees (Ficus, Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Chalcidoidea, Agaonidae) are involved in an obligate mutualism where each partner relies on the other in order to reproduce: the pollinating fig wasps are a fig tree’s only pollen disperser whilst the fig trees provide the wasps with places in which to lay their eggs. Mutualistic interactions are, however, ultimately genetically selfish and as such, are often rife with conflict. Fig trees are either monoecious, where wasps and seeds develop together within fig fruit (syconia), or dioecious, where wasps and seeds develop separately. In interactions between monoecious fig trees and their pollinating wasps, there are conflicts of interest over the relative allocation of fig flowers to wasp and seed development. Although fig trees reap the rewards associated with wasp and seed production (through pollen and seed dispersal respectively), pollinators only benefit directly from flowers that nurture the development of wasp larvae, and increase their fitness by attempting to oviposit in as many ovules as possible. If successful, this oviposition strategy would eventually destroy the mutualism; however, the interaction has lasted for over 60 million years suggesting that mechanisms must be in place to limit wasp oviposition. This thesis addresses a number of factors to elucidate how stability may be achieved in monoecious fig systems. Possible mechanisms include: 1) a parasitoidcentred short ovipositor hypothesis in Ficus rubiginosa, which suggests that a subset of flowers are out of reach to parasitoid ovipositors making these ovules the preferred choice for ovipositing pollinators and allowing seeds to develop in less preferred ovules; 2) the presence of third-party mutualists such as non-pollinating fig wasps (F. burkei) and patrolling green tree ants on the fig surface (F. racemosa) that limit pollinator and parasitoid oviposition respectively; and 3) selection on fig morphology which constrains the size (and therefore fecundity) of the associated pollinators. I discuss the lack of evidence for a single unifying theory for mutualism stability and suggest that a more likely scenario is the presence of separate, and perhaps multiple, stabilising strategies in different fig/ fig-wasp partnerships