Native hymenopteran parasitoids associated with fruit‐infesting flies in three plant formations and prospects for biological control in Western Burkina Faso, West Africa

Abstract

Abstract In Western Burkina Faso, fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) cause economic impacts. Damage on a mango can reach 100% in late varieties, and on shea fruits, the average attack rate is 66.5%. Parasitoids offer natural biocontrol services, but the potential for this in Burkina Faso remains unknown. We performed a survey (2017–2019) in three plant formations (natural fallows n = 6; agroforestry parks n = 6 and mango orchards n = 6) to determine the levels of parasitism of tephritid fruit fly pests. For this purpose, fruits from cultivated and wild fruit fly host plant species were sampled in these plant formations and incubated for insects' emergence. In total, 1822 adults belonging to 7 parasitoid species were found. Fopius caudatus (Szépligeti) and Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti) with 51.47% and 30.60% of the total of parasitoid adults emerged, respectively, were the most predominant. Parasitism rate varied according to host fruit species. Pupae recorded from Sarcocephalus latifolius and Vitellaria paradoxa were most parasitized (27.22% ± 3.96%) and (17.08% ± 2.37%), respectively, while those obtained from mangoes were the less parasitized (3.73% ± 0.91%). Mass rearing of F. caudatus and P. concolor, as well as habitat management, will contribute to the promotion of both, augmentation and conservation biological control.