New tachinidae (Diptera) host records of eastern north American forest canopy lepidoptera: Baseline data in a Bacillus thuriengiensis variety kurstaki nontarget study

Macrolepidopteran caterpillars collected in 1995 and 1996 in the Monongahel a National forest, Pocahontas County, W, and the George Washington National forest, Augusta County, VA, yielded 60 previously unreported tachinid host associations. Most associations were between native species, but the intro duced polyphagous tachinid Compsilura concinnata (Meigen) produced eight ne w associations with native hosts. The tachinids collected were slightly bro ader in their host 7 preferences than associated Braconidae and Ichneumonid ae, illustrating their potential importance in regulating foliage-feeding m acrolepidopteran populations in the region studied. The sample years report ed herein are the pretreatment baseline portion of a long-term study on the effects of Lymantria dispar (L.) defoliation, efficacy of applied Bacillus thuringiensis variety kurstaki Berliner, and the natural occurrence of the L. dispar pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga Humber, Shimazu & Soper on nontarg et organisms.