learning host or prey-related olfactory cues may lead to increase efficiency and foraging capacity of biocontrol agents such as trichogramma egg parasitoid wasps in nature. the egg parasitoids, trichogramma species (hym., chalcidoidea, trichogrammatidae), are most commonly and important biocontrol agents that have successfully been utilized against several lepidopteran pests, especially through...

The functional response of the parasitoid Dinarmus basalis (Rond.) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is determined to evaluate its potential as a biological control agent. Four female wasps in the presence of males parasitoids, were allowed to oviposit during their life span or hosts at different densities. The data were fit by Rogers′ (1972) parasitoid model. The rate of parasitoid search was a′= 0....

Gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) induce structures (galls) on their host plants that house developing wasps and provide them with protection from natural enemies. The Asian chestnut gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, is an invasive pest that is destructive to chestnut (Castanea spp.). An improved understanding of the interactions among D. kuriphilus, its host, and its natural enemie...

Naïve Cotesia vestalis wasps, parasitoids of diamondback moth (DBM) larvae, are attracted to a synthetic blend (Blend A) of host-induced plant volatiles composed of sabinene, n-heptanal, α-pinene, and ( Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, in a ratio of 1.8:1.3:2.0:3.0. We studied whether qualitative (adding ( R)-limonene: Blend B) or quantitative changes (changing ratios: Blend C) to Blend A affected the olf...

Syconia of figs (Moraceae: Ficus spp.) harbour many wasp species, mostly belonging to several genera of chalcidoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). In contrast, only two genera of Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) with a few known species are found in syconia belonging to the subgenus Urostigma. The braconid fig wasps have an infrequent occurrence with low population density and are rarely ...

The adaptive value of acarinaria - specialized structures in some wasps and bees that harbour symbiotic mites - has long been elusive. A new study has now shown that the mites are actually beneficial to their host by actively defending it against parasitoids.

Parasitic wasps use a broad spectrum of different stimuli for host location and host acceptance. Here we review the published evidence for the use of mechanical stimuli, i.e. substrate born vibrations which are invariably regarded as vibrotaxis. We propose a set of criteria to class behavioural reactions as vibrotaxis or vibrokinesis and characterize 14 studies reporting the use of host-associa...

Horismenus parasitoids are an abundant and understudied group of eulophid wasps found mainly in the New World. Recent surveys based on morphological analyses in Costa Rica have quadrupled the number of named taxa, with more than 400 species described so far. This recent revision suggests that there is still a vast number of unknown species to be identified. As Horismenus wasps have been widely ...

The larch casebearer [Coleophora laricella (Hubner)], a non-native insect, continues to impact western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) through defoliation events in the Pacific Northwest. Biological control programs starting in the 1960s released seven species of parasitoid wasps to control C. laricella outbreaks. However, information about current population dynamics of C. laricella and assoc...

Figs (Ficus spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera, Agaonidae, Chalcidoidea) constitute a classic example of an obligate plant-pollinator mutualism, and have become an ideal system for addressing questions on coevolution, speciation, and the maintenance of mutualisms. In addition to pollinating wasps, figs host several types of nonpollinating, parasitic wasps from a diverse ar...