European Journal of Entomology (2006) 103, 365-370
L. Volter and M. Kenis (2006)
Parasitoid complex and parasitism rates of the horse chestnut leafminer, Cameraria ohridella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia
European Journal of Entomology 103 (2), 365-370
Abstract: The horse chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella Deschka and Dimiæ, is a species of unknown origin that recently invaded most of Europe, causing serious damage to horse chestnut trees, Aesculus hippocastanum. Parasitism was studied over a period of three years in the region of Plzeò in the Czech Republic. Additional collections were made in Slovakia and Slovenia. The parasitoid complex, dominated by polyphagous idiobiont parasitoids of the family Eulophidae, is similar to that found in other studies in Europe. Minotetrastichus frontalis (Nees) was the most abundant parasitoid found, except in Slovakia where Pediobius saulius (Walker) dominated. One parasitoid species, the eulophid Cirrospilus diallus (Walker) was recorded for the first time from C. ohridella. A new method is proposed to calculate stage-specific and total parasitism rates. Parasitism rates of spinning larvae and pupae were higher than of feeding larvae; however, total parasitism was low. We estimated that between 1% and 17% of moths died from parasitism during the larval and pupal stages whereas the rate of mortality caused by other factors varied from 7% to 62%, depending on the locality, year and generation. The proposed method for calculating total parasitism, based on the integration of stage-specific parasitism rates, which takes into account the mortality not directly attributed to parasitism, is discussed and compared with other methods commonly used in studies on C. ohridella.
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Database assignments for author(s): Lubomir Volter, Marc Kenis
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
surveys/distribution/isolation