Responses of native egg parasitoids to the invasive seed bug Leptoglossus occidentalis

Abstract

Abstract The Western conifer seed bug Leptoglossus occidentalis, a native insect of North America, was accidentally introduced in Europe in the late 1990s. Since then, it has spread rapidly. Biological control could provide an efficient management option but natural enemies of the pest have been poorly examined in Europe. In this study, we exposed sentinel egg masses and collected naturally laid egg masses in southern France in 2016 and 2017, to identify the egg parasitoids of L. occidentalis and investigate their potentials. Three egg parasitoids were detected: Anastatus bifasciatus, Ooencyrtus pityocampae and Ooencyrtus telenomicida. The overall parasitism was low compared to that observed in the native range with 6.4% of all eggs being parasitized, while 17.1% of egg masses carried at least one parasitized egg. The total number of parasitized egg masses was similar between parasitoid species, but the mean number of parasitized eggs per egg mass was highest for A. bifasciatus (5.57 vs. 1.25 for Ooencyrtus spp.). Sentinel egg masses underestimated the parasitism compared to natural egg masses (respectively, 1.42% and 7.71%). Our results suggested that the three generalist parasitoids detected can respond in a Leptoglossus egg density‐dependent manner, but this requires further investigations.