Abstract
BackgroundFruit flies are important insect pests of horticultural crops. Pesticides used to control them which cause environmental and health hazards; therefore, other alternative sustainable management measures are required.Main bodySuccessful implementation of an integrated pest management program, using biological control agents, needs synchronization of parasitoids with hosts selection and exposure time. The present study was conducted to assess the biological activity of the parasitoid species, Dirhinus giffardii (Silvestri) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), against the melon fruit fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), and the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), at different exposure durations (24, 48, and 72 h). The experiments were conducted under standard laboratory conditions. Significant differences in the parasitism rate of D. giffardii were observed for both species at different exposure durations. The maximum parasitism rate of D. giffardii (52.60 ± 2.84%) and (42.73 ± 2.74%) was observed at 48-h exposure period for Z. cucurbitae and B. dorsalis, respectively. Also, a comparison between both species showed a difference in parasitism rate at 24 and 48 h and a positive correlation between percent parasitism and exposure duration. Adult emergence of D. giffardii showed a maximum emergence rate from pupae of Z. cucurbitae (63.55 ± 4.02%) and B. dorsalis (51.61 ± 2.33%) at 10 days interval, respectively. However, the daily emergence of the parasitoid was not correlated to exposure duration in both species. The results of the present study may serve in the mass rearing of D. giffardii.ConclusionThe biological activity of D. giffardii was maximum at 48 h of exposure for both fruit fly species, and this important information may improve the mass rearing technology of D. giffardii.
Highlights
Materials and methods Fruit fly cultures Parent colonies of the two fruit fly species, i.e., Z. cucurbitae and B. dorsalis, were maintained at Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI)’s Biological Control Laboratory, Rawalpindi, Pakistan (33′′ 38′ 39′ N, 73′′ 04′ 57′), since 2016
The results showed that the highest parasitism rate (52.60 ± 2.84%) by D. giffardii was observed after 48 h exposure to Z. cucurbitae pupae, followed by 72 h exposure (37.73 ± 4.80%) (F = 8.67; df = 2, 8; P = 0.017) (Fig. 1)
In the context of correlation, the results showed a positive correlation for parasitism rate of D. giffardii vs. exposure duration for Z. cucurbitae pupae (R2 = 0.7172) (Fig. 2a) and B. dorsalis pupae (R2 = 0.9181) (Fig. 2b)
Summary
The current study was performed to assess the biological activity of D. giffardii for fruit flies. D. giffardii emergence was maximum at 48 h of exposure duration for Z. cucurbitae (52.60 ± 2.84%) and B. dorsalis (42.73 ± 2.74%). The results showed a correlation between parasitism to increasing exposure duration. The current study provides important information for mass rearing of D. giffardii, as comparing relative effectiveness and exposure duration of D. giffardii for fruit fly species could aid in improve rearing technology of this biocontrol agent
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