Phenology, Density and Parasitism of Asian Chestnut Gall Wasp (Dryocosmus kuriphilus) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) in Recently Invaded Chestnut (Castanea spp.) Orchards in Michigan

Abstract

Asian chestnut gall wasp (ACGW) (Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu), an invasive pest native to China, was detected in Michigan, the largest chestnut producer in North America, in 2015. Along with quantifying gall densities, we tracked dates and cumulative growing degree days corresponding to ACGW life stages in five, seven, and nine orchards in 2017-2019, respectively. Gall formation, triggered by the onset of feeding by overwintered larvae, began soon after bud break. Most adult wasps emerged in mid summer, after pollen production peaked. Density of ACGW in all sites dropped sharply in 2019, probably as a result of larval mortality caused by severely cold temperatures in late January. Gall density was generally lower on Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollisima Blume) trees and C. mollisima hybrids, which share some coevolutionary history with ACGW, than on cultivars of European chestnut (C. sativa Miller) and Japanese-European (C. crenata Sieb. & Zucc. x C. sativa) trees, including the popular Colossal cultivar. Torymus sinensis Kamijo (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), a larval parasitoid previously introduced into the U.S. and several countries in Asia and Europe for ACGW biocontrol, appears to be spreading with ACGW in Michigan. Parasitoid larvae were recorded in four, six, and eight of the infested sites we sampled in 2017-2019, respectively, and parasitism rates ranged from 5 to70% of galls.

Keywords: Torymidae; biological control; chestnut cultivar; gall-forming pest; invasive pest.