A total of 165,810 gypsy moth larvae and pupae were collected over two field seasons, using five techniques. Three tachinid species Compsilura concinnata (Meigen), Blepharipa scutellata (Robineau-Desvoidy), and Parasetigena agilis (Robineau-Desvoidy) accounted for 77.1% of the parasites recovered; and B. scutellata comprised 50.4%. Two techniques-burlap-band/tree-species and burlap-band—yielded significantly greater numbers of certain parasites than the general technique. The 1972 and 1973 average percentage of parasitism (12 and 14% respectively) indicated that parasites by themselves, as an individual mortality factor, did not remove a significant proportion of the host population and could not function to limit the rate of increase of the gypsy moth in these areas.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Richard Reardon (1976) studied this question.