Shea Crowther, Alexander Chautá, Katja Poveda
Delia platura (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) is a globally distributed agricultural pest that feeds on the germinating seeds of many economically significant crops. Yield loss is primarily caused by early-season generations of this pest, whose larvae are present in the soil shortly after planting corn and soybean. Current control of this pest is primarily reliant on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, but recently passed legislation in New York State bans the use of these chemicals on corn, soybean, and wheat seeds. As part of a broader effort to develop a well-studied integrated pest management plan for the fly considering the loss of the insecticide, we looked for parasitoids that were parasitizing early-season D. platura larvae. Seed bait traps were placed at 23 field sites across New York State and left for 14 d. Traps were returned to a laboratory setting and placed into rearing cages to allow the fly larvae and parasitoids time to develop and emerge. Parasitoid wasps emerged from larvae at 1 of the 23 field sites. Wasps were identified as Aphaereta lonchaeae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a previously unknown parasitoid of D. platura with an extremely limited known distribution.