PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 81(1). 1979. pp. 75-81 BREEDING TESTS SUPPORT SYNONYMY OF APANTELES MELANOSCELUS AND APANTELES SOLITARIUS (HYMENOPTERA: BRACONIDAE) Marjorie a. Hoy and Paul M. Marsh (MAH) USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, 151 Sanford Street, Hamden, Connecticut 06514 (present address: Depart-ment of Entomological Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Cali-fornia 94720); and (PMM) Systematic Entomology Laboratory, IIBIII, Agric. Res., Sci, and Educ. Admin., USDA, 7c U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C. 20560. Abstract. — The satin moth {Stilpnotia salicjs (L.)) and the gypsy moth {Lymantria dispar (L.)) were accidentally introduced into North America. Classical biological control projects led to the introduction of two closely related braconid parasites, Apanteles solitarius (Ratzeburg) and A. mela-noscelus (Ratzeburg), which were recently synonymized. Hybridization tests were conducted to confirm this synonymy with an A. solitarius colony collected from the satin moth in British Columbia in 1975 and an A. inela-noscelus colony collected from the gypsy moth in Connecticut. Mating oc-cured readily under laboratory conditions, and fertile hybrid female progeny were produced in the Fj and the backcross generations. The satin moth {Stilpnotia salicis (L.)) and the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar (L.)) are exotic pests and have been the targets of classical biological control programs in North America, but with differing results (Burgess and Crossman, 1927; Howard and Fiske, 1911; Crossman, 1922; Jones et al., 1938; Brown, 1931; Reeks and Smith, 1956; and Dowden, 1962). The effort against the satin moth has been considered successful (McGugan and Cop-pel, 1962); the current impact of the satin moth in the northeastern United States is insignificant, whereas the gypsy moth remains a significant prob-lem. One approach that might yield improved control of the gypsy moth is genetic improvement of a parasite through hybridization of different geo-graphical strains (Hoy, 1975a and 1975b). Apanteles melanoscelus (Ratzeburg) was introduced into New England from Europe in 1911. It is primarily a parasite of gypsy moth larvae but occasionally attacks other moths including the satin moth. In 1927, a species of Apanteles determined as solitarius (Ratzeburg) was also introduced into New England from Europe. This species is primarily a parasite of the satin
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