Influence of oviposition experience on multiparasitism by Pimpla disparis Vierick and Itoplectis conquisitor Say (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae).

We evaluated the potential for competition between the exotic ichneumonid parasitoid Pimpla disparis Vierick and the native ichneumonid Itoplectis conquisitor Say, in the form of multiparasitism and destructive host feeding, by examining how previous oviposition experience influenced host selection. Both species commonly attack the host species, bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae), in central Illinois. We used in our study adult female parasitoids that were naïve, had previously oviposited into hosts that contained heterospecifics, or had oviposited into hosts that initially were unparasitized.

Larval feeding on Bt hybrid and non-Bt corn seedlings by Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Coleomegilla maculata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).

Zoophytophagy is an omnivorous activity that occurs when a primarily carnivorous species feeds on plant material. Plant feeding by beneficial predators may have negative consequences if the plant material has been chemically treated, contains toxins, or was transgenically altered. Although common in predaceous Hemiptera, zoophytophagy has been rarely studied in aphidophagous coccinellids.