Hymenoptera abundance on candidate plants for conservation biological control

Abstract: As part of the general goal of identifying plants useful for conservation biologicalcontrol this study aimed to assess the role of different species as habitat for Hymenoptera. Twenty-fourmonospecific plots of selected plants were sampled during winter, early and late spring.Sinapis alba hosted the highest numbers of Hymenoptera throughout the sampling period, evenwhen it was not blooming. Large numbers of Hymenoptera were also collected on Brassica nigra,much related to the flowering period, and on Medicago sativa, especially in late spring. Regardingwoody plants, Viburnum tinus may be of some interest in spring.