Posters | Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 21 (Supl.): 126 | 1997
Braconidae associated with aromatic plañís in Eastern Spain
R. Jiménez, M. Domínguez, J.V. Falcó, J. Moreno & IVI.T. Oltra
ABSTRACT
Cultivation into greenhouses is more and more extended in many localities from Eastern Spain. In the township of Chella (south of province of Valencia) there are some plots where the greenhouses crops include several economically important aromatic plants.
The purpose of the present study is to know the associated entomológica) fauna (pests and parasitoids) collected on four species of aromatic plants: marigold (Caléndula officinalis}, cornflower (Centaurea cyamts
verbena (Lippia triphylla) and spearmint (Meníha víridis). The sampling work was carried out during 1996. The collected material is housed in the Department of Animal Biology of the University of Valencia
The study of seventy-two specimens of Braconidae has demonstrated the presence of seven subfamilies: Alysiinae (1), Aphidiinae (7). Hormiinae (13), Macrocentrinae (1), Microgastrinae (43), Orgilinae (2) and Rogadinae (5). The taxonomic identifícation reveáis 15 species included in 13 genera: Aphaereta (Alysiinae), Aphidius, Lysiphlebus, Praon (Aphidiinae), Hormius (Hormiinae), Mücrocentrus (MacrocentrinaeJ, Apanteles, Choeras, Colesia, Dolichogenidea, Microgaster (Microgastrinae), Orgilm (Orgilinae) andAleiodes (Rogadinae).
Some aromatic plant - phytophagous host - parasitoid wasp relationships are recorded. It is necessary to emphasize that the majority of braconid parasitoids have been obtained on larvae of lepidopterous Pyralidae and Noctuidae. The pyralids were basically feeding on spearmint. Among these lepidopterous pests, the mint moth Pyrausía aurala has been the species with the higher percentage of parasitism and with the most extensive parasitoid complex.
