Ascogaster quadridentata Wesmael, 1835 Fig. 3

Ascogaster quadridentata Luciano et al. 1988, Marchesini and Dalla Montà 1992, 1994, 1998, Coscollá 1997, Marchesini et al. 2006, Bagnoli and Lucchi 2006.

Italian distribution of reared parasitoids.

Sardinia: Luciano et al. 1988

Tuscany: Bagnoli and Lucchi 2006

Veneto: Marchesini and Dalla Montà 1992, 1994, 1998, Marchesini et al. 2006

Distribution.

The species is present in Europe and North Africa; in Asia it is recorded up to Japan (for more details see: Yu 1997-2012 and Cabi 2016a). Ascogaster quadridentata was introduced in North America and New Zealand for the biological control of Cydia pomonella L. ( Lepidoptera, Tortricidae).

Host range.

This koinobiont egg-larval endophagous parasitoid feeds on various species of economically important moths, especially belonging to the family Tortricidae . Yu et al. (2012) provide a list of sixty-seven host species. In the vineyards it has been also associated to Paralobesia viteana and Eupoecilia ambiguella .

Ecological role.

As already highlighted by Bagnoli and Lucchi (2006), in Tuscany this parasitoid is usually present at low density in all the three generations of Lobesia botrana . In Veneto it has never been obtained by larvae of the first generation, but reached a maximum rate of parasitism of 4.4% in the second generation and 2.7% in the third generation. In Sardinia it was obtained only from first generation larvae of EGVM living on Daphne gnidium, with a parasitism rate of 3.7%.