Taxonomic composition of hymenopteran parasitoid assemblages from agromyzid leaf-miners sampled in Central Argentina

SALVO A,; G R, VALLADARES

STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Año: 1998 vol. 33 p. 116 - 123

0165-0521

This paper deals with the taxonomic composition of parasitoid assemblages reared from twenty eight agromyzid leafminer species in Cordoba, Central Argentina. The relative representation of each parasitic family was estimated, taking into consideration their species richness and abundance. Sample size affected the total species richness in each complex, and also that of Eulophidae and Pteromalidae, indicating that not only size but also taxonomic structure of parasitic assemblages are influenced by sampling effort. Three superfamilies and 5 families of Hymenoptera Parasitica were found, with Eulophidae (Chalcidoidea) specifically and numerically dominant both in the total community of parasitoids and in the parasitic assemblages of individual hosts. Chrysonotomyia, Chrysocharis (Eulophidae), Halticoptera (Pteromalidae) and Phaedrotoma (Braconidae) were the most relevant genera in terms of number of species and number of specimens reared. Parasitoid communities in agroecosystems differed from the global community mainly by showing a numerical dominance of Braconidae, despite a noticeable specific impoverishment of this family.