A comparison of four methods for sampling adult populations of cocoon parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

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Abstract
Four methods were used to sample the abundance of adult Ichneumonidae that parasitize the sawfly, Neodiprion swainei Middleton, in Quebec. Two sample methods, using soil samples and emergence traps, gave absolute estimates of populations through the season. The first method was more accurate for estimating abundance and the latter for determining phenology. Two other methods, using window traps and cocoon planting, were more rapid and the results correlated well with the absolute estimates. These rapid methods were used specifically to sample litter-searching ichneumonids. The two trapping methods sampled the male ichneumonid population effectively, but the females were underestimated because of their cryptic behavior. Results from the emergence traps and flight traps showed that catches of males were correlated with the absolute population of adult females, estimated from the soil sample, for two species Pleohphus basizonus (Gravenhorst) and Endasys subclavatus (Say). Results from cocoon planting were also correlated with the absolute population of adult females of these species. Therefore, the rapid methods can be used to estimate adult female numbers in extensive sampling of these parasitoids.

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