Carbohydrate Diet and Reproductive Performance of a Fruit Fly Parasitoid,Diachasmimorpha tryoni

Abstract

Augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps are often used successfully for biological control of fruit flies in programs worldwide. The development of cheaper and more effective augmentative releases of the parasitoid wasp Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) may allow its use to be expanded to cover Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a serious pest of many vegetables and most fruit production in Australia. This demands a fuller understanding of the parasitoid's reproductive biology. In this study, mating status, fecundity, and size of female D. tryoni were determined under laboratory conditions. A range of pre-release diets, 10% concentrations of honey, white sugar, and golden syrup, were also assessed in the laboratory. Mature egg loads and progeny yields of mated and unmated parasitoid females were statistically similar, demonstrating that mating status was not a determinant of parasitoid performance. Female lifespan was not negatively impacted by the act of oviposition, though larger females carried more eggs than smaller individuals, indicating a need to produce large females in mass-rearing facilities to maintain this trait. White sugar gave the highest adult female lifespan, while honey and golden syrup shared similar survivorship curves, all significantly greater compared with water control females. Pre-release feeding of D. tryoni, particularly with white sugar, may enhance the impact of released parasitoids on B. tryoni. These findings are important because honey is currently the standard diet for mass-reared braconids, but white sugar is less than one-third the cost of other foods; however further work is required to assess postrelease performance of the parasitoid.

Factors affecting the biology of Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) on spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)

“…Offered both water and honey they lived for up to 72-79 days, and even those individuals that were kept in complete starvation lived for 6-11 days on average. This lifespan is long relative to other parasitoid species and to a Chinese population of P. vindemmiae which under starvation only lived for 2.7 days [34,35,37,39]. Water + honey caused the highest survival curves, while water alone and fasting produced the lowest ones, independent of sex.…”

“…Water is considered an essential nutrient for insects [29,30] and must be ingested frequently to compensate for dehydration [31,32]. In parasitic wasps, water is seldom considered to have any effect on survival or reproduction, and little is known about whether parasitoids forage for free water [33–39]. By practicing host-feeding a parasitoid can access nutrients for parasitoid maintenance, egg production, or both, including water and sugars [40,41].…”

Specialized Pheromone and Lure Application Technology as an Alternative Male Annihilation Technique to ManageBactrocera tryoni(Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…The Hawaii fruit fly AW-IPM program successfully managed four invasive species (Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann); melon fly, B. cucurbitae; oriental fruit fly, B. dorsalis; and Solanum fruit fly, B. latifrons (Hendel)), which in addition to MAT included field sanitation, protein bait, sterile insect technique (SIT), and biological control (Vargas et al 2008b). Similarly, compatible technologies for B. tryoni management include protein bait sprays, crop or host sanitation (Lloyd et al 2010), SIT (Gurr and Kvedaras 2010;Reynolds et al 2012, 2014), and parasitoids (Ero et al 2011, Spinner et al 2011, Harris et al 2012, Zamek et al 2013, the latter which, are still under development. Combinations of these techniques are used to eradicate B. tryoni outbreaks from the B. tryoni-free states of South Australia (Jackman et al 1996, Perepelicia et al 1997 and Western Australia (Fisher 1996).…”

An improved culturing method for opiine fruit fly parasitoids and its application to parasitoid monitoring in the field

“…Female and male wasps were housed together in Bugdorm cages in the insectary where they were provided with honey solution (30% w/v in 30 mL plastic cups fitted with cotton wool wicks) ad libitum to ensure mating and promote longevity (Zamek et al ., ). Mated female parasitoids (5–11 d old) were used in experiments (Dukas & Duan, ).…”

“…For the culturing bag method, the bag was opened before placing in the container (the cotton cloth was removed and the infested media placed in a 500 mL plastic container). Pupae were later sieved from the vermiculite and upon emergence adult wasps were counted, sexed, and hind tibial measurements were taken to determine adult size (Heinz, ; Zamek et al ., ). Adult insects were collected for a period of 7 d after the first wasps enclosed.…”