Larval Parasitism of Orangestriped Oakworm (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in the Urban Shade Tree Environment

Populations of native orangestriped oakworm, Anisota senatoria (J. E. Smith), have defoliated urban landscape oak trees in southeastern Virginia for the past 7 years. Parasitoids that emerged from larvae and pupae were collected from 1987 to 1990 and their effectiveness was determined. Larval parasitism by Hyposoter fugitivus (Say) averaged 3.2 and 9.3% in first and second generation A. senatoria populations. Larval parasitism by Lespesia anisotae (Webber) and Belvosia bifasciata (F.) was 10.7 and 0.7%. Lespesia aletiae (Riley) was recovered in 1990 from prepupae and was a new host record. Larval parasitoid effectiveness was decreased by eight species of hyperparasites. First and second generation larvae experienced 40 and 33.6% hyperparasitism. Perilampus hyalinus (Say) parasitized 2.0% of L. anisotae and 23.5% of B. bifasciata larvae. Hyperparasites that were new host records included Brachymeria ovata (Say), Eupelmus cyaniceps (Ashmead), Isdromas Iycaenae (Howard), and Horismenus species. Larval parasitoids were not abundant in southeastern Virginia and this may partially explain the high A. senatoria populations found there.