Influence of aggregation pheromone of Riptortus clavatus (Heteroptera: Alydidae) on the occurrence of egg parasitoid, Gryon japonicum (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae).

The kairomonal activity of the aggregation pheromones of Riptortus clavatus for the egg parasitoid, Gryon japonicum, were investigated in soybean field. The parasitism rate of G. japonicum gradually decreased when the distances between pheromone traps and egg sites were increased from 0 to 15 m. The active distance of pheromone source for parasitoid attraction was estimated to be ca. 15 m. Under field conditions, the parasitoid wasp population peaked during the late August and early September, and the parasitism rate increased when the number of pheromone traps was increased from one to three per . However, insecticide-treated plots, the level of parasitism recorded is relatively low. Sex ratios in field populations of G. japonicum were female-biased.