In the summer of 2001, weekly mass releases of 5.000-15.000 Trichogramma cacoeciae (Marchal) were made at select locations in Seattle, Washington. The inter- and intratree dispersal behavior of T. cacoeciae was monitored with sentinel traps placed at various distances from the release point. No significant tendancy towards any cardinal direction could be found. Other sites were used to determine the efficacy of T. cacoeciae to parasitize naturally occuring Enarmonia formosana (Scolpoli) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) eggs. Egg parasitism levels increased over the season to levels as high as 95%. In the summer of 2002 the same sites were monitored for parasitoid establishment using sentinels as recapture traps. Based on our sentinel trapping data from mid-May to late June establishment over the winter had not occurred. In early July releases of 5.000 T. cacoeciae per tree were resumed to again look for a pattern in their dispersal. For the intratree dispersal a slight tendancy towards the East and West was found, while the dispersal between trees was extremely limited.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae Trichogramma cacoeciae
Species 2: Lepidoptera Tortricidae Enarmonia formosana (Cherry Bark Tortrix)
Keywords: dispersal, parasitism
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