Effect of Fruit Substrates on Parasitization of Tephritid Fruit Flies (Diptera) by the Parasitoid Biosteres arisanus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract

The effect of fruit substrates on the parasitization of tephritid fruit flies by Biosteres arisanus (Sonan) was demonstrated in the laboratory. Naive female parasitoids (15-20-d old after emergence) discriminated among fruit varieties in which eggs of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), and the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann), occurred. The preference (in descending order) of B. arisanus for B. dorsalis eggs was apple banana, Musa paradisiaca ssp. sapientum (L.) O. Ktze ; false kamani, Terminalia catappa L. ; solo papaya, Carica papaya L. ; Haden mango, Mangifera indica L. ; and, common lime, Citrus aurantiifolia (Christmann) Swingle. Where C. capitata was the target host, eggs inoculated in common guava, Psidium guajava L., and solo papaya were parasitized more heavily than those in citrus fruits, namely, common lime ; tangerine, Citrus nobilis Lour. ; and, tangelo, a cross between Citrus nobilis and Citrus paradisi Macf. B. dorsalis or C. capitata eggs exposed to B. 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 arabian coffee, Coffea arabica L. However, eggs of B. dorsalis were more heavily parasitized than those of C. capitata in common guava or solo papaya.