Parasitoid complex of Phyllonorycter robiniella (Clemens, 1859) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) in Serbia

Abstract

In a study of the parasitoid complex of the locust leaf miner Phyllonorycter robiniella (Clemens, 1859), 23 species of its parasitoids were recorded at 18 localities in Serbia. The parasitoid species included 2 species of the family Braconidae, I of the family Eupelmidae, and 20 of the family Eulophidae. The recorded species of parasitoids are polyphagous; in addition to Ph. robiniella, they also develop on other species of leaf miners as primary; primary and secondary; or primary, secondary, and tertiary parasitoids. Among the recorded species of parasitoids, the most significant were the species Pholetesor bicolor, Pholetesor nanus, Sympiesis sericeicornis, Sympiesis acalle, Minotetrastichus frontalis, Pediobius saulius, and Baryscapus nigroviolaceus. The parasitoids were found to have a strong effect on the abundance of Ph. robiniella because they reduced more than 50% of its larvae and pupae in the majority of study samples.