Abstract
In Argentina there are two tephritid fruit fly species of major economic and quarantine importance: the exotic Ceratitis capitata that originated from Southeast Africa and the native Anastrepha fraterculus. In recent years, the use of fruit fly parasitoids as biocontrol agents has received renewed attention. This increasing interest has recently led to the establishment of a program for the mass rearing of five million Diachasmimorpha longicaudata parasitoids per week in the BioPlanta San Juan facility, San Juan, Argentina. The first augmentative releases of D. longicaudata in Argentina are currently occurring on commercial fig crops in rural areas of San Juan as part of an integrated fruit fly management program on an area-wide basis. In this context, research is ongoing to assess the suitability of indigenous parasitoid species for successful mass rearing on larvae of either C. capitata or A. fraterculus. The purpose of this article is to provide a historical overview of the biological control of the fruit fly in Argentina, report on the strategies currently used in Argentina, present information on native parasitoids as potential biocontrol agents, and discuss the establishment of a long-term fruit fly biological control program, including augmentative and conservation modalities, in Argentina’s various fruit growing regions.
Highlights
In Argentina, tephritid fruit flies of economic importance are only represented by the introducedMediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and the native South American fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann)
The introduction of T. giffardianus from Brazil represented an indirect release, it can be categorized as the first classical fruit fly biological control program in Argentina
A. fraterculus in the expanding commercial citrus production areas of NW and NE Argentina, where there are variable climatic and host density conditions. In both citrus-growing regions, ProCEM is planning to carry out integrated fruit fly management programs on an area-wide basis in the coming years incorporating parastioid releases. In this context, ongoing research in the PROIMI insectary involves assessing the suitability of four indigenous parasitoids species, Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brèthes), Opius bellus Gahan, D. crawfordi, and Coptera haywardi Loiácono, for mass rearing on larvae of either C. capitata or A. fraterculus as part of an augmentative release program targeting both tephritid fruit fly species
Summary
In Argentina, laboratory colonies were established for three of these species (D. longicaudata, A. indica and P. vindemmiae) using C. capitata as a host Specimens of these three parasitoid species were sporadically released in five Argentinian provinces [Tucumán and Jujuy (NW), Misiones and Entre Rios (NE), and Córdoba (Central region)] throughout the 1960s [38,39]. A new biological control program was attempted in the 1980s by the Research Center for the Regulation of Noxious Organisms (CIRPON), Tucumán, Argentina, through the reintroduction of the widely distributed parasitoid species D. longicaudata, A. indica and P. vindemmiae. Initial shipments for this biocontrol program originated in Hawaii via Costa Rica. The last significant shipments of D. longicaudata specimens were sent to the BioPlanta San Juan facility (central-western Argentina) between April and December 2008 [57]
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