Seasonal incidence of two co-occurring adult parasitoids of Acalymma vittatum in New York State: Centistes (Syrrhizus) diabroticae and Celatoria setosa

We report the incidence of striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum [Fabricius]) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) parasitism in bi-weekly samples from diverse farm locations in central New York State over the course of two growing seasons. Two parasitoid species not previously verified in this geographic region were found: Celatoria setosa (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tachinidae) and Centistes (Syrrhizus) diabroticae (Gahan) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Parasitism by C. setosa, up to 43%, [mean 8.67%] was comparable to previously published rates. Contrary to the expectations of earlier authors, however, C. diabroticae was found to be ubiquitous and maximum rates of parasitism (similar to 54%) were > threefold greater than the only other published report for this species [C. diabroticae mean 14.36%]. In laboratory assays, we investigated C. diabroticae larval development. We also tested the effects of wasp clone and host beetle sex on C. diabroticae larval development. This is the first documentation of life cycle information for this braconid.