Host Acceptance and Suitability of Endemic Hawaiian Leafroller Moth Omiodes continuatalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) for Four Non-native Parasitoid Species

Abstract

Laboratory trials were completed to examine the acceptance and suitability of eggs and larvae of the endemic Hawaiian leafroller moth Omiodes continuatalis Wallengren (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) as hosts for four non-native Hymenoptera parasitoid species which commonly occur in Hawaiian ecosystems: egg parasitoid Trichogramma papilionis (Trichogrammatidae), larval parasitoids Meteorus laphygmae (Brachonidae) and Diadegma blackburni (Ichnuemonidae), and a larval-pupal parasitoid Triclistus nr. aitkeni (Ichnuemonidae). We demonstrated host acceptance of O. continuatalis by all four parasitoid species, and host suitability for T. papilionis. These data suggest that O. continuatalis could be at risk of attack by these four parasitoid species where they are sympatric under field conditions.