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Interactions between pupae of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) and parasitoids in a Pinus forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2015

C.P. Bonsignore*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Entomologia ed Ecologia Applicata – Dipartimento PAU, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Salita Melissari s.n, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
F. Manti
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Entomologia ed Ecologia Applicata – Dipartimento PAU, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Salita Melissari s.n, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
E. Castiglione
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Entomologia ed Ecologia Applicata – Dipartimento PAU, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Salita Melissari s.n, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: +39 0965 1696318 Fax: +39 0965 385219 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Parasitoids are significant enemies of many economically important insects and there is some evidence to suggest that their actions have a role in terminating the outbreaks of forest Lepidoptera populations. In this study, we examined the impact of parasitoids on the pupae of the pine processionary moth, and highlighted the presence of several parasitoid species for this developmental stage. A higher rate of parasitism was found when the pupal density in the soil was reduced, but the rate of parasitism was not influenced by pupal morphological traits or by the presence or absence of a cocoon around a pupa. Of the external factors examined, a delay in the time of descent of larvae from the trees had a positive effect on the level of parasitism. Observational data indicated that dipteran and hymenopteran were the most abundant parasitoids to emerge from moth pupae. Our study highlights the complexity of the parasitoid–host dynamics, and stresses the importance of carefully determining environmental effects on host–parasitoid relations.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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