Native larval parasitoids (Hymenoptera) of frugivorous tephritoidea (Diptera) in South Pantanal Region, Brazil

Abstract

The frugivorous larvae of Tephritidae and Lonchaeidae are key pests of fruit trees and vegetable crops in Brazil and in many other South American countries. Their most important natural enemies are parasitoids of the families Braconidae and Figitidae (Hymenoptera). The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of parasitoids in larvae of fruit flies (Tephritidae) and frugivorous Lonchaeidae that infest several species of native and exotic fruit trees in the South Pantanal Region, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Ninety-two species of fruits from 36 families and 22 orders were sampled. From 11 species of host fruits, we obtained 11,197 larvae of Tephritoidea, and in some samples there occurred Braconidae, Figitidae or Pteromalidae parasitoids. The Braconidae totaled 99.45%, represented by 3 species: Doryctobracon areolatus (Szpligeti) 92.45%, Utetes anastrephae (Viereck) 6.17%, and Opius bellus (Gahan) with 0.82%. The Figitidae were represented by Lopheucoila anastrephae (Rohwer) (0.28%), and Pteromalidae by Spalangia endius (Walker) (0.28%). Lopheucoila anastrephae emerged from puparia of Neosilba spp. (Lonchaeidae) infesting pods of Inga laurina (Swartz) Willdenow. Doryctobracon areolatus was associated with 2 species of Anastrepha:A. rheediae Stone in Rheedia brasilensis Planchon & Triana and A. zenildae Zucchi in Sorocea sprucei saxicola (Hassler) C. C. Berg. In Ximenia americana L. 14% of the larvae of Anastrepha spp. were parasitized and D. areolatus reached more than 96% of total parasitism in this host fruit. The braconids were specific to Tephritidae, and the Figitidae species collected in this work were associated only with larvae of Neosilba spp. (Lonchaeidae). Copyright © 2011 BioOne All rights reserved.