Abstract
Field surveys conducted during 2020–2021 in Nedumpura, Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur district of Kerala yielded Cotesia anthelae (Wilkinson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) as a gregarious larval parasitoid of a nymphalid butterfly Cirrochroa thais (Fabricius) (Tamil Yeoman) along with its hyperparasitoid Mesochorus sp. (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). This is the first report of C. anthelae parasitizing a nymphalid butterfly, earlier reports were from a host belonging to Anthelidae (Lepidoptera: Bomycoidea). Also, this is the first report of C. anthelae from the Oriental region, earlier reports are confined to Australia. The present study provides morphological identification of C. anthelae and biological details of its host.
Publisher
Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Nature and Landscape Conservation,Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics