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Despite the high taxonomic diversity of oaks in Mexico and Central

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Inundative releases of the indigenous egg parasitoid Trichogrammatoidea cryptophlebiae Nagaraja were made against Cryptophlebia leucotreta (Meyrick) in two sweet orange orchards in the Transvaal lowveld, South Africa. The rate of parasitism was raised to similar levels in the two release areas, but there was a significant decrease in crop damage in only one of them. Although the larval population was twice as large in a control orchard, the losses there were compensated for by a larger total crop. Three explanations for the different performances of the parasitoids are examined. Movement away from release areas was not apparent. Rates of parasitism at the tops or bottoms of trees or at the four cardinal aspects were not significantly different overall but should have been to compensate for the linear increase in numbers of host eggs with height, and the larger numbers on the warmer northern and eastern sides of trees. Parasitism was higher at the tree tops than at the bottoms in the orchard that lost the least fruit. The stochastic processes governing host-egg distribution on fruit were also important. Pest density was higher in the release areas than the control, and eggs were distributed more contagiously in the orchard with the most crop loss.