Tachinid (Diptera: Tachinidae) Parasitoids of Overwintered Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) Pupae in Hazelnut Plantations in Samsun Province, Turkey

Abstract

The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), is an exotic, defoliating larval pest in Europe and Asia. More than 4,000 overwintered pupae of H. cunea were collected from hazelnut plantations in Samsun province, Turkey in 2008 and 2009. Two tachinid species, Compsilura concinnata and Nemoraea pellucida, were reared in both 2008 and 2009. Species richness at sites ranged from 1 to 2 species. Parasitism was 2.4 times higher in 2009 than in 2008. The highest total parasitism for any site was 23.6% in 2009. Nemoraea pellucida parasitised 2.4% of all pupae collected, was responsible for 94.6% of all tachinid parasitism, and had the highest parasitism rate of 19.4% for any site. Compsilura concinnata parasitised 0.14% of all pupae and was responsible for 5.4% of tachinid parasitism.