Abstract
This study aimed to identify parasitoid species of frugivorous larvae and to describe the tritrophic interactions involving wild fruits, frugivorous insects and their natural enemies at Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve (RFAD) (Manaus, AM, Brazil). Collections were performed in four 1 km2 quadrants in the corners of the RFAD. The wild fruits were collected inside the forest in access trails leading to each collection area and in trails that surrounded the quadrants, up to five metres from the trail on each side. The fruits were placed in plastic containers covered with thin fabric, with a vermiculite layer on the base to allow the emergence of flies or parasitoids. Seven Braconidae species were collected, distributed among Opiinae: Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti, 1911), Utetes anastrephae (Viereck, 1913), and Opius sp., and Alysiinae: Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck, 1958), Phaenocarpa pericarpa Wharton and Carrejo, 1999, Idiasta delicata Papp, 1969, and Asobara sp. Parasitism rates by braconids and figitids are presented. Doryctobracon areolatus was the most frequent, parasitizing the highest number of fly species, and showing the highest parasitism percentage in larvae feeding on Micropholis williamii fruits. The collected figitids belong to Aganaspis nordlanderi Wharton, 1998 and A. pelleranoi (Brethes, 1924). All 15 tritrophic associations are new records for the Brazilian Amazon region. The RFAD is an important natural reservoir of frugivorous larvae parasitoids.
Highlights
The deforestation rate in the Amazon Region has been on the rise in recent years, due to the actions of sawmills and the inappropriate use of forest resources by the local population (Fearnside, 2003)
The present study aims to identify parasitoid species of frugivorous larvae and describe the tritrophic interactions of these insects with wild fruits at the Adolpho Ducke reserve
From 17 species of Anastrepha parasitoids recorded in Brazil (Ovruski et al, 2000), seven species occur at Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke (RFAD), that is, approximately one half of the species already recorded in the country
Summary
The deforestation rate in the Amazon Region has been on the rise in recent years, due to the actions of sawmills and the inappropriate use of forest resources by the local population (Fearnside, 2003). Deforestation affects the environment and causes biodiversity losses by habitat fragmentations (Myers, 1992), which have a greater impact on parasitoids than on insect hosts (Krues and Tscharntke, 2000). It is estimated that 75% of the insect species in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest are still unknown, and many species disappear before even being described The diversity of fruit hosts of tephritids is relatively high in the Neotropical region; there is a lack of biological information on most fruit fly species, as well as on their parasitoids, especially those associated with fruit fly species without significant economic importance (Ovruski et al, 2000)
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