Summary
Larvae of genusPieris in the northern part of Kyoto City are parasitized by two tachinid flies:Epicampocera succincta, a specialist on genusPieris, andCompsilura concinnata, a generalist with very wide host-range. We surveyed the parasitism rates ofPieris by both flies for two years at six study areas. In these study areas, there lived three host species in the genusPieris: P. rapae, P. melete, andP. napi, but neither tachinid parasitizedP. napi to any significant extent. In the mountainous district,P. rapae andP. melete coexisted and their populations were relatively continuous, while in the lowland, onlyP. rapae larvae were abundant in spring and autumn, but even they disappeared in summer. Parasitisms byE. succincta occurred mainly in mountainous district and never in the lowland.C. concinnata parasitizedPieris in all the areas, but its parasitisms occurred mainly in autumn.
We analyzed the factors affecting the spatial and temporal patterns of parasitism rates and presumed that the temporal discontinuity of host population restricted the distribution of the specialist parasitoid.
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Iwao, K., Sato, Y. & Ohsaki, N. Spatio-temporal distribution patterns of two tachinid flies,Epicampocera succincta andCompsilura concinnata parasitizingPieris . Res Popul Ecol 31, 105–112 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02515808
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02515808