Host specificity: The answer to the temperate parasitoid diversity anomaly

Species diversity for parasitic Hymenoptera seems to defy convention by being higher in temperate regions than in tropical regions. To test whether parasitoid diversity is higher in temperate regions, five host plant species were chosen and all externally feeding caterpillars found on them were collected and reared. The temperate caterpillars and parasitoids were compared to ones collected in Costa Rica on related plant species. The COI barcoding region was used to determine species identification for all parasitoids and hosts. Biodiversity and parasitism rates are discussed.