Host ranges of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae and Ichneumonidae) reared from Epermenia chaerophyllella (Goeze) (Lepidoptera: Epermeniidae) in Britain, with description of a new species of Triclistus (Ichneumonidae)

Abstract

The complex of parasitoids attacking larval stages of Epermenia chaerophyllella in Britain is outlined, and the host range of each of the species recorded (three braconids and four ichneumonids) is discussed. `Ecological' factors, such as the behavioural similarity of unrelated hosts during the vulnerable parts of their life histories, seem to have been important in the evolution of the host associations of several of these parasitoids, even though they are koinobionts. A new species, Triclistus epermeniae Shaw and Aeschlimann, is described.