DOI: 10.3897/bull.insectology.171229

Authors: Anna Teski, Zoltán Vas, Attila Takács, Balázs Kiss, Gábor Bozsik, Gábor Szőcs

Abstract: The fig-tree skeletoniser moth, Choreutis nemorana (Hubner, 1799), in the course of spreading from the Mediterranean Region towards Central Europe, was first detected as a pest in Hungary in 2011. Established populations threaten fig cultivation, a newly increasing branch of horticulture, lacking any licensed pesticides. In order to investigate whether local parasitoids of the native microlepidopterous species have started to accept C. nemorana as a new host, we collected C. nemorana larvae and cocoons from various sites in Hungary and reared them on fig leaves. Levels of parasitization were recorded and emerged parasitoids were collected for identification. The overall levels of parasitization ranged from 9.4% to 52.6%. Three ichneumonid (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) parasitoid species were found as new associations for C. nemorana: Oiorhinus pallipalpis Wesmael, 1845 (Ichneumoninae), Scambus inanis (Schrank, 1802) (Pimplinae), and Encrateola laevigata (Ratzeburg, 1848) (Cryptinae); the latter species is also known as a facultative pseudohyperparasitoid. Mesochorus vittator (Zetterstedt, 1838) (Ichneumonidae, Mesochorinae), a true hyperparasitoid, was also reared presumably from a koinobiont larval parasitoid such as Diadegma sp. Apart from those two already known parasitoids of C. nemorana were also found: Scambus elegans (Woldstedt, 1877) (Pimplinae) and Diadegma sp. (Campopleginae). These results are discussed in terms of the potential future role of local parasitoids in affecting populations of C. nemorana. Many parasitoids belonging to groups other than Ichneumonidae were also reared and will be the subject of later papers.

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