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New Zealand’s economically vital exotic pastures are unique in their low complexity making them highly susceptible to invasive pest species such as the Argentine stem weevil  Listronotus bonariensis . This field-based contribution further examined the ecology of the adult weevil and its parasitoid control agent  Microctonus hyperodae.  This included factors that affect field sampling accuracy, interpretation of population density and parasitism estimates. Compared to adult population estimates measured via turf flotation, suction sampling (G-vac) showed c.30% under-estimation of population densities while parasitism rates were over-estimated by c.26%. The bionomic implications of the sampling biases are discussed as they relate to the recently observed sharp declines in  L. bonariensis  parasitism. The weevil’s field parasitism rates showed no relationship to population density again confirming the parasitoid’s very high host searching efficiency. This study also coincided with meteorological conditions (&gt;30°C) that resulted in a very large  L. bonariensis  ‘swarming’ event. The mass emigration from the experimental plots left only a low residual population of parasitised weevils that typically do not fly. Therefore, measured  L. bonariensis  populations and their  M. hyperodae  parasitism levels cannot always be presumed to be solely the result of population dynamics  in situ .

new zealand journal of agricultural research

Implications of sampling bias and population behaviour in the study of parasitoid-based biocontrol of  Listronotus bonariensis  in New Zealand’s exotic pasture ecosystems