Alkaloid content of parasitoids reared from pupae of an alkaloid-sequestering arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

A number of parasitoids reared from pupae of Utetheisa ornatrix, an arctiid moth that sequesters pyrrolizidine alkaloids from its larval foodplant, we re analyzed chemically to see whether they sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloid s from this host. None proved to do so in substantial measure. The highest alkaloid concentration detected in a parasitoid was about one-tenth that in the host. The parasitoids were from Florida and North Carolina, and includ ed four species of Tachinidae (Lespesia aletiae, Lespesia sp., Chetogena cl aripennis, and Archytas aterrimus), one species of Chalcididae (Brachymeria ovata), and an undescribed species of Ichneumonidae (Corsoncus sp.). The g enus Corsoncus has not previously been recorded from the eastern USA.