Samoan swallowtail, life history, parasitoids, 2013-2014
Description
Surveys for Papilio godeffroyi eggs were conducted on 117 individually marked host trees (Micromelum minutum) in eight forest stands on Tutuila Island, American Samoa, at approximately monthly intervals during 2013-2014. The eight host tree stands were mostly in or adjacent to the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA), but one stand was sampled near the western tip of Tutuila, outside NPSA. Intact Papilio eggs were collected and brought into the laboratory at American Samoa Community College to be reared to determine their reproductive outcome and rates of parasitism. Eggs were maintained in environmental chambers with fresh host plant foliage until a Papilio larvae hatched or parasitoid wasps emerged. The number, sex, and date of emergence of wasps yielded by each Papilio egg was determined to increase knowledge about factors potentially limiting Papilio reproduction. Of 282 egg samples that were parasitized, 281 were of one species, the newly described Ooencyrtus pitosina (Encyrtidae), but a single Papilio egg yielded another species (undescribed). These data can be used with other reproductive data available in this data release to evaluate the impact of egg parasitism on P. godeffroyi reproduction.