Parasitoids and predators of the endemic defoliator Pseudocoremia suavis (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae)

Abstract

Pseudocoremia suavis is an endemic looper with a history of damaging outbreaks in exotic plantation forests in New Zealand. Little is known of the natural enemies of this pest, or what role they might play in the regulation of populations. Here we compile a list of parasitoids and predators of this species, including the results of recent collections of larval parasitoids at Eyrewell Forest, a pine plantation in North Canterbury. Thirteen primary parasitoids, two hyperparasitoids and 11 predators are recorded. The dominant parasitoid reared from larval collections made at Eyrewell Forest in this study was Aleiodes declanae. This species was also dominant during P. suavis outbreaks at Eyrewell Forest during the 1950s and 1960s, along with the pupal parasitoids Aucklandella conspirata, A. pyrastis, and Zealachertus longus. Previously unpublished information on the biology of the parasitoids and predators gathered during this study and during previous outbreaks of P. suavis is included.

Keywords:

• Hymenoptera
• hyperparasitoid
• natural enemy
• plantation forest