Parasitoid complex of Zygaena filipendulae L. (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae)

Abstract

Caterpillars of Zygaena filipendulae Linnaeus were sampled during May and June in the Sićevo Gorge in southern Serbia. All parasitized larvae were found on grey elm trees (Ulmus canescens). During the short period before metamorphosis of Z. filipendulae, we found the whole specter of parasitoid wasps: Cotesia zygaenarum Marshall (Braconidae), Gelis agilis (Fabricius) and Mesochorus velox Holmgren (Ichneumonidae), Elasmus platyedrae Ferrière and Pediobius sp. (Eulophidae), Eupelmus vesicularis (Retzius) (Eupelmidae) and Brachymeria tibialis (Walker) (Chalcididae). Beside hymenopteran parasitoids, we found parasitoid flies from the family Tachinidae, Phryxe nemea (Meigen) (Diptera). All 46 observed Z. filipendulae larvae found on grey elm trees were parasitized, but three pupae were found directly on Lotus corniculatus. Two species are newly reported as parasitoids of Z. filipendulae: E. platyedrae and Eupelmus vesicularis and three species (G. agilis, M. velox and E. platyedrae) are new to the fauna of Serbia. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43001]

Keywords

• Zygaena filipendulae
• parasitoids
• hyperparasitoids
• trophic associations