V roce 2010 byl v České republice poprvé zaznamenán výskyt pilatky azalkové (Nematus lipovskyi), jejichž housenice způsobují holožíry na měkkolistých pěnišnících. Druh byl již zaznamenán na více než 60 lokalitách především v Praze a ve středních Čechách, příčemž jde o první zaznamenaný výskyt druhu mimo území USA. V botanické zahradě Přírodovědecké fakulty Univerzity Karlovy v Praze byli poprvé odchyceni samci tohoto druhu., The Azalea sawfly (Nematus lipovskyi), previously known from the eastern states of the USA, was first recorded in the Czech Republic. Since the discovery of the species in 2010 in the botanical garden of Charles University in Prague, more than 60 localities of Nematus lipovskyi have been confirmed, mostly from Prague and Central Bohemia. Males of the species were found for the first time since the description of the species., and Petr Šípek, Ján Macek.
The comparative biology of the solitary endoparasitoid Meteorus gyrator (Thun.) was investigated in five noctuid pest species. Meteorus gyrator parasitized all larval stages of the noctuid pests Lacanobia oleracea, Mamestra brassicae, Spodoptera exigua, Spodoptera littoralis and Chrysodeixis chalcites. When female parasitoids were offered host larvae of all developmental stages, host larvae in their third stadium were parasitized most frequently in all species. When the parasitoid was offered a choice of third stadium larvae from each of the five lepidopteran host species, L. oleracea was the most frequently parasitized, followed by M. brassicae. The growth of L. oleracea and M. brassicae was markedly reduced when larvae were parasitized by M. gyrator, with the effect of parasitism on the remaining species being much less pronounced. In excess of 94% of parasitized hosts gave rise to live wasps in L. oleracea, whilst in M. brassicae only 52% of parasitized hosts gave rise to a live wasp, the remainder dying (44.6%) or pupating (3.1%).
The larval development of the parasitoid was also strongly influenced by the host species. Thus, the development (egg to cocoon) of female wasps was most rapid in C. chalcites (9.7 ± 0.09 days), and longest in M. brassicae (17.2 ± 1.08 days). The cocoon weight of wasps was also significantly affected by host species, with the heaviest female cocoons being derived from C. chalcites (10.4 ± 0.16 mg) and the lightest female cocoons being derived from M. brassicae (7.0 ± 0.14 mg). In all cases, the development times and cocoon weights of male parasitoids were less than those of female wasps.