Gaasch, C. M., J. Pickering, and C. T. Moore. 1998. Flight phenology of parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in Georgia's Piedmont. Environmental Entomology 27:606-614.
Abstract
We present monthly catches for the 22 subfamilies of Ichneumonidae (n = 16,584) collected in 5 Malaise traps at the Hitchiti Experimental Forest, GA (33° 03′ N, 83° 43′ W) in 1993 and 1994. Although average peaks of trap catches for koinobionts and idiobionts coincided, the phenological peaks of individual taxa within these parasitic groups often differed. The nocturnal parasitoid subfamily Ophioninae peaked in July 1993 and June 1994, whereas the nocturnal genus Netelia (Tryphoninae) peaked in April of both years. The most frequently caught subfamilies with hosts in the Lepidoptera and Symphyta peaked in late April-early May of both years (Campopleginae, Cryptinae, Ichneumoninae, Ctenopelmatinae, and Tryphoninae). In contrast, subfamilies with hosts in the Coleoptera had unsynchronized peaks in April (Tersilochinae) and June (Acaenitinae) 1993 and in September (Tersilochinae) and June (Acaenitinae) 1994. The subfamily Orthocentrinae, which attacks dipteran hosts, peaked in April 1993 and November 1994. The hyperparasitic subfamily Mesochorinae peaked in May 1993 and April and October 1994, corresponding in time to trap catches of their potential host subfamilies that attack Lepidoptera and Symphyta. We hypothesize that host seasonality is more important than other environmental factors and life history parameters in determining peak flight activity.