SEASONAL OCCURRENCE OF BRACHYMERIA-INTERMEDIA (HYMENOPTERA, CHALCIDIDAE), A PARASITOID OF THE GYPSY-MOTH, LYMANTRIA-DISPAR (LEPIDOPTERA, LYMANTRIIDAE), IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

To document the life history of Brachymeria intermedia in the U.S., we monitored the presence of reproductively active wasps in the field us ing trap hosts over an 8-week time period in early summer. The overall level of recovery of wasps was low (8% peak parasitism on average), y et, all parasitism occurred within one week. Reproductively active B. intermedia seemed to be fairly synchronized with gypsy moth pupation, suggesting that they might be univoltine and monophagous. However, we cannot conclude unequivocally that B. intermedia is monophagous, becau se these wasps appear to disperse readily to other habitats where thei r behavior is unknown.