STATUS OF AGENIASPIS FUSCICOLLIS (HYMENOPTERA: ENCRYTIDAE), AN INTRODUCED PARASITOID OF THE APPLE ERMINE MOTH (LEPIDOPTERA: YPONOMEUTIDAE)

Abstract

The apple ermine moth, Yponomeuta malinellus Zeller, is a univoltine pest species that defoliates apple, Malus domestics (Borkh) (Rosaceae), in the temperate region of the Palaearctic. First instars overwinter within a communal hibernaculum beneath the covering of the egg batch (Kock 1998). In spring, larvae emerge to initially mine apple leaves and subsequently feed externally within a communal tent (Menken et al. 1992). During heavy infestations, the communal tents may envelop the entire apple tree, resulting in total defoliation (Parker and Schmidt 1985). There have been several accidental introductions and subsequent eradications of the apple ermine moth in eastern North America (Hewitt 1917; Parker and Schmidt 1985) but, by 1989, the pest was found in the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia, in Whatcom county, Washington, and in northwestern Oregon (Antonelli 1991; Unruh et al. 1993).