Abstract
The six major pests of oilseed rape, namely the cabbage stem flea beetle, the cabbage stem weevil, the rape stem weevil, the pollen beetle, the cabbage seed weevil and the brassica pod midge, are reported to host at least 80 species of hymenopteran parasitoids. Of these, 12 key species are widespread and abundant on oilseed rape crops throughout Europe; these species are important for conservation biocontrol of the pests on winter rape. This guide aims to help in their identification. It collates information from previously published keys, other literature and recent extensive examination of specimens and highlights selected key features of relevant taxa from superfamily to species. It is liberally illustrated with figures, newly-drafted and redrawn and/or modified from published literature. A glossary of terms is provided.
Keywords
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Acknowledgements
We are indebted to Prof. Dr. Klaus Horstmann, Universität Würzburg, Germany, for his generous sharing of expertise on the taxonomy of Tersilochinae, for examination of specimens and for discussions of characters for separating species. We are especially grateful for his advice on a draft version of the section of this chapter devoted to Tersilochinae, which is based to a great extent upon his keys (Horstmann 1971, 1981). We also thank Dr. Kees van Achterberg, Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, Netherlands, for examination of specimens and the sharing of his expertise in identification of Braconid species, Dr. Gary Gibson, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Dr. Hannes Baur, Natural History Museum, Bern, Switzerland, and Dr Stephan Vidal, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany, for similar assistance in separation of Pteromalid species. We thank Dr. Archie Murchie, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, UK, for advice on the identification of Platygaster subuliformis, Trichomalus perfectus and Omphale clypealis. We acknowledge the support of the EU co-funded project: MASTER (QLK5-CT-2001-01447), for providing travel funds to attend project meetings for invaluable taxonomic discussions, particularly with Dr. Bernd Ulber, Georg-August Universität, Göttingen, Germany, Dr. Christer Nilsson and Britt Åhman, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden, Dr. Zdzisław Klukowski, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland and Dr. Eve Veromann, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia. Preparation of the guide was funded by the UK Department for Food and Rural Affairs and the Estonian Targeting Financing Projects SF0172655s04 and SF0170057s09. Rothamsted Research is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom.
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Ferguson, A.W., Williams, I.H., Castle, L.M., Skellern, M. (2010). Key Parasitoids of the Pests of Oilseed Rape in Europe: A Guide to Their Identification. In: Williams, I. (eds) Biocontrol-Based Integrated Management of Oilseed Rape Pests. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3983-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3983-5_3
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