Parasitism of a leafminer in managed versus natural habitats

Results showed that overall parasitism and parasitoid species richness were not lower in simple and disturbed than in complex habitats. Pooled data indicated that parasitism of L. huidobrensis increased in the sequence natural < urban < cultivated on both experimentally exposed and naturally occurring weeds. Small leafminer populations attracted the highest total number of parasitoid species in cultivated habitats. Some degree of habitat specialisation was detected in eulophid species which were particularly scarce in cultivated habitats, the reverse being found for braconids.