Effect of fruit substrates on parasitization of tephritid fruit flies (Diptera) by the parasitoid Biosteres arisanus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).
Bautista R. C., Harris E. J.
Author Affiliation: Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, P.O. Box 2280, Honolulu, HI 96804, USA.
Environmental Entomology 25 : 470-475
Abstract : The effect of fruit substrates on the parasitization of tephritids by Biosteres arisanus was demonstrated in the laboratory. Naive female parasitoids (15-20 days old after emergence) discriminated among fruit varieties in which eggs of Bactrocera dorsalis and Ceratitis capitata occurred. The preference (in descending order) of Biosteres arisanus for Bactrocera dorsalis eggs was apple banana (Musa paradisiaca subsp. sapientum), false kamani (Terminalia catappa), pawpaw, mango and common lime. Where C. capitata was the target host, eggs inoculated in common guava and pawpaw were parasitized more heavily than those in citrus fruits, namely, common lime; tangerine [mandarin] and tangelo (a cross between Citrus nobilis and grapefruit). B. dorsalis or Ceratitis capitata eggs exposed to Biosteres arisanus concurrently in a pair of fruits of the same variety showed that parasitoids did not discriminate between these 2 fruit flies when eggs occurred in Coffea arabica. However, eggs of Bactrocera dorsalis were more heavily parasitized than those of C. capitata in common guava or papaya.