Natural mortality of leaffooted bug (Hemiptera : Heteroptera : Coreidae) eggs in cowpea

Predation and parasitism of eggs of Leptoglossus phyllopus (L.) were monito red from 1993 to 1997 by placing egg masses on cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L .) Walp.] and other wild and cultivated, host plants. Hymenopteran parasito ids reared from eggs were Gryon carinatifrons (Ashmead), Gryon pennsylvanic um (Ashmead) (Scelionidae), Anastatus spp. (Eupelmidae), and an unidentifie d encyrtid. Scelionids comprised 93% of parasitoids, with a 4:1 ratio of G. carinatifrons: G. pennsylvanicum. Parasitoids were able to develop in core id eggs that had been stored at <-20 degrees C. Data from 1995 and 1996 sho wed that intensity of egg parasitism varied among host plants and was signi ficantly lower on corn compared with cowpea and wild Asteraceae, reaching a maximum of 61.9% on late-season cowpea. Egg predation was high on all host plants tested, ranging from 28.8% on blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L., t o 72.2% on the wild host Pyrrhopappus carolinianus (Walter) DC.