Spalangia endius Walker (Pteromalidae) - A New Parasitoid of Exorista sorbillans Wiedemann (Tachinidae)

The uzifly Exorista sorbillans Wied. is a serious larval endoparasite of silkworm, Bombyx mori L. causing heavy damage to an extent of 15-20% to sericulture industry (Mukherjee, 1919; Gosh, 1949; Jolly, 1981; Kasturi Bai et al., 1986). Biological control methods have gained increasing acceptance and popularity because of its specificity to target pest and also being non-hazardous to human welfare, attempts are being made to contain uzifly menace using its parasitoids. Several larval/pupal parasitoids of E. sorbillans have been recorded. They are Nesolynx thymus (Pradip Kumar et al., 1986), Trichopria sp, Exoristibia philippinensis (Veeranna et al., 1987 a; 1987 b), Dirhinus anthracia, Pachycrepoideus veerannai (Veeranna and Jyothi, 1988. 1991), Spilomicrus karnatakensis (Pradip Kumar et al., 1988) and Brachymeria lugubris (Samson and Ramadevi, 1985). In this report, yet another parasitoid Spalangia endius Walker of E. sorbillans has been reported for the first time. The life cycle of this species and its population growth rate have also been studied. The identity of S. endius was established by Dr.T.C.Narendran, Professor of Zoology, University of Calicut, India.