RELATION BETWEEN BANDING-PATTERNS OF MALIC ENZYME BY ELECTROPHORESIS AND A MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER IN EXOTIC AND NATIVE TORYMUS SPECIES

Relation between banding patterns of malic enzyme and a morphological character (ratio of length of ovipositor sheath to length of thorax) w as investigated in Torymus species. In Torymus individuals that emerge d from withered galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus collected from five dif ferent localities in Japan, F or S type of banding patterns were detec ted. The morphological character indicated that there were two distinc t groups in Torymus species: T. sinensis (large ratio group) and T. be neficus (small ratio group). The malic enzyme of T. sinensis was fixed on the S band while in T. beneficus only the F band was detected. The refore, this enzyme is a useful hereditary index for investigating the interspecific competition and hybridization between these two closely related species.