Baseline egg load of southern pine beetle parasitoid complex

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Publication Title

Canadian Entomologist

Volume

134

Issue

4

First Page

551

Last Page

560

Abstract

Egg load of newly emerged adult parasitoids of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was examined. Infested bark was collected from D. frontalis infestations in southwestern Arkansas (Clark and Montgomery counties; 1995), the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama (1999), and the Talladega National Forest in Alabama (1998-2000) between June and September of each collection year. Newly emerged parasitoid females were dissected and numbers of mature and immature eggs counted. There was no significant difference in number of eggs within a species and between parasitoids from the Bankhead National Forest compared with those from the Talladega National Forest in Alabama in 1999. There were differences in number of eggs within a species between years at the same location. Dendroctonus frontalis parasitoids in the family Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera) had the most mature eggs, followed by Braconidae (Hymenoptera) and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera). Within the D. frontalis parasitoids in the family Pteromalidae, Dinotiscus dendroctoni (Ashmead) and Heydenia unica Cook and Davis had more mature eggs than did Roptrocerus xylophagorum Ratzeburg. Within the D. frontalis parasitoids in the family Braconidae, Meteorus hypophloei Cushman females contained the most mature eggs, followed by Dendrosoter sulcatus Muesebeck, Spathius pallidus Ashmead, and Coeloides pissodis (Ashmead). These data constitute a foundation for defining baseline egg load of the D. frontalis parasitoid complex.

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