First record of Braconidae as parasitoids of Capnodis tenebrionis (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), with notes on the ecology of Spathius erythrocephalus Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

For the first time an ichneumonoid parasitoid is reported from the peach flatheaded rootborer Capnodis tenebrionis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in a heavily infested plum and apricot orchard in south-western Sicily. In 2005 and 2006 the ecology of the ectoparasitoid Spathius erythrocephalus Wesmael, 1838, (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was studied. The larvae are ectophagous and gregarious; obviously the parasitoid search for the large buprestid larval (6.0 ± 0.4 cm). The adult parasitoid appeared in both cultivations in August and/or September and selected only the matur