none Ascogaster reticulatus Watanabe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an egg-larval parasitoid of the smaller tea tortrix Adoxophyes sp. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Host finding behavior of A. reticulatus was observed and the role of host wing scales analyzed. Female parasitoids released on tea twigs in a container tended to search more actively on the leaves on which host moths had stayed overnight than on control leaves. A. reticulatus females responded with antennal searching to the leaves which were closer to the oviposition site of the host. Higher searching activity was found on leaves with moth scales. Female parasitoids released in an arena (20 cm dia., 5 cm ht.) changed their behavior from straight to meandering walk after contact with an area treated with female wing scales, wing extract, or egg-mass extract.