Survey for Adventive Populations of the Samurai Wasp, (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) in Pennsylvania at Commercial Fruit Orchards and the Surrounding Forest.

The samurai wasp, (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), is an egg parasitoid associated with the brown marmorated stink bug, (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). is a candidate for classical biological control of populations. Since 2014, adventive populations of have been detected in 14 US states, in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, and in two European countries, Switzerland and Italy. Establishing baseline information about populations of is important, as this species is not host specific to and the potential ecological effects of the accidental introductions are not fully known. In this study, yellow sticky cards were deployed at commercial fruit orchards in nine counties in Pennsylvania separated by more than 400 km. was detected on cards in eight counties, and in two habitats, in the orchard and at the forest border. Other native species of Scelionidae known to attack the eggs of were also identified, including (Ashmead), (Ashmead), and Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). These results are important baseline ecological knowledge for both , which appears to be established in orchards throughout Pennsylvania, and other native Scelionidae.