Parasitoids of Insects Associated with Soybean and Vegetable Crops in Indonesia

Field surveys were carried out in Indonesia on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Bali from November 1994 to October 1997 to determine the parasitoid species associated with vegetable crops and soybean. Lepidopteran larvae were placed on artificial diet and brought to the laboratory for parasitoid emergence. Egg masses of sucking bugs also were collected or eggs from colony-reared bugs were placed in the field and collected later. Leafminer-infested leaves were held in containers until emergence of parasitoids or adult flies. Eighty-five species of parastoids from 62 genera emerged from the collections. Most (92%) of the species were from four superfamilies: Ichneumonoidea (37 species or 44%), Chalcidoidea (31 species or 37%), Proctotrupoidea (9 species or 11%), and Bethoidea (1 species). There were seven species of parasitic Diptera. Many of the parasitoid species, such as Diadegma semiclausum Hellen (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) on Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae), were clearly controlling host larvae. Omiodes indicata (F.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Spodoptera litura (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) yielded 15 and 11 species of parasitoids, respectively. Several undescribed species of parasitoids were found from a range of hosts. Several of the parasitoids are illustrated.