Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing Epirrita autumnata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) larvae in Fennoscandia with description of Cotesia autumnatae Shaw, sp n.

The microgastrine subset of hymenopteran parasitoids of the geometrid Epirrita autumnata is investigated in Fennoscandia. Ecology, including population dynamics, of the moth has been intensively studied in northern and mountainous Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recently supported hypotheses about the c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ilari E Sääksjärvi, Anu Veijalainen, Kai Ruohomäki, Mark R Shaw, Niklas Wahlberg, Tero Klemola, Niina Snäll
Other Authors: biologian laitoksen yhteiset, Department of Biology, ekologia ja evoluutiobiologia, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PÄÄT Eläinmuseo, PÄÄT Eläinmuseo, fysiologia ja genetiikka, Physiology and Genetics, 2606404, 2606402, 2606400, 2606406
Language:English
Published: ENTOMOLOGICA FENNICA 2022
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Online Access:https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/170745
Description
Summary:The microgastrine subset of hymenopteran parasitoids of the geometrid Epirrita autumnata is investigated in Fennoscandia. Ecology, including population dynamics, of the moth has been intensively studied in northern and mountainous Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recently supported hypotheses about the causes of its cyclic population dynamics stress the role of parasitoids, while the parasitoid complex with some 15 species is insufficiently known. The complex includes four solitary microgastrine species, Protapanteles anchisiades (Nixon), immunis (Wesmael), Cotesia salebrosa (Marshall) and C. autumnatae Shaw, sp. n. Here, we provide detailed figures for the latter, which is morphologically close to C. jucunda (Marshall), and describe the species as new to science. We also provide more general habitus figures of the other three species, as well as an identification key for the four species, aiming to aid recognition of these species by ecologists dealing with microgastrine parasitoids of E. autumnata and their alternative geometrid hosts.