Monday 23 July 2018

Insect of the Week (July 23, 2018) - Natural enemies of the canola flower midge


This week’s Insects of the Week are two parasitoid wasps, an Inostemma sp. (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and a Gastrancistus sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). These parasitoids are natural enemies of the canola flower midge (Contarinia sp., Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), a newly discovered fly species that uses canola as its host plant. The parasitoids have been found throughout the Prairies emerging from infested galls created by the canola flower midge. Little is known about these two species, but parasitism rates as high as 30% have been noted in northeast Saskatchewan.


Gastrancistrus sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)
(c) 2016 Boyd Mori, AAFC

Inostemma sp. (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae)
(c) 2016 Boyd Mori, AAFC






Find out more about the natural enemies of the canola flower midge and more at the Insect of the Week page!