Weeds and aphids were evaluated as potential natural sugar sources for inoculatively released Trichogramma ostriniae Pang et Chen (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in central New York field corn. Densities of flowering weeds, weeds with aphids, and aphids on corn were recorded within plots. Parasitism and predation recorded on naturally occuring Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) egg masses by date were compared with densities of weeds by species, aphids on weeds by species, and aphids on corn by species within and between locations. Mean density of common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L., and total eggs per date per plot were the only factors that significantly increased parasitism and parasitism+predation across locations and plots and within plots at one location, and explained 23% of variability in parasitism between locations and 49.5% of variability in parasitism within one location. Mean density of Aphis fabae Scopoli (Homoptera: Aphididae) on C. album was not a significant factor in any model. No factors explained variability in predation alone or the sum of eggs per date across or within locations. Implications for biological control of O. nubilalis in field corn will be discussed.
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