Pediobius cajanus sp. n. (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), an important natural enemy of the Asian fly (Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch)) (Diptera, Agromyzidae) in the Dominican Republic

Taverasl, Rosina; Hansson, Christer

doi:10.3897/jhr.45.4964

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…While such a limited number of rearing records may be seen as weak evidence for host specificity, numerous other studies have reared parasitoids from dipteran puparia in the neotropics, and none of these have yielded C. annulifera. A review of 18 studies in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Peru revealed no evidence of C. annulifera being reared from at least 24 species of tephritid, muscid and sarcophagid Diptera (Diaz et al 1996, Mendes and Linhares 1999, Ovruski et al 2005, Marchiori et al 2002, Aguiar-Menezes et al 2004, Garcia and Corseuil, 2004, Geden et al 2006, Hern andez-Ortiz et al 2006, Marchiori 2006, Marchiori and Silva Filho 2007, Loera-Gallardo et al 2008, Romero et al 2010, Batt an Horenstein and Salvo 2012, Avila-Rodr ıguez et al 2015, Taveras and Hansson 2015, Montoya et al 2016). These studies did, however, yield 31 other pupal parasitoid species, including the well-known dipteran generalists Nasonia vitripennis (Walker), Muscidifurax raptor (Girault and Sanders), Spalangia endius (Walker) (all Pteromalidae), and Brachymeria podagrica (F.) (Chalcididae).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle and Host Specificity of the Parasitoid Conura annulifera (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), a Potential Biological Control Agent of Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae) in the Galápagos Islands

Bulgarella

Quiroga²,

Boulton³

et al. 2017

Annals of the Entomological Society of America

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The neotropical parasitoid Conura annulifera (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) is known to parasitize birdparasitic flies in the genus Philornis (Diptera: Muscidae) including P. downsi (Dodge and Aitken), a species that has invaded the Gal apagos islands and is negatively impacting populations of Darwin's finches. We report here some aspects of the life history, field ecology, and host specificity of C. annulifera. We collected puparia of four Philornis species in 13 bird nests during 2015 and 2016 in western mainland Ecuador and found that C. annulifera and three other parasitoid species emerged from those puparia. This is the first record of C. annulifera in Ecuador. Rearing records and dissections of parasitized puparia revealed that C. annulifera is a solitary pupal ectoparasitoid, placing its eggs in the gap between host pupa and puparium. Laboratory studies of host specificity involving P. downsi and pupae from five other dipteran, three lepidopteran, and one hymenopteran species found that C. annulifera only produced progeny when presented with P. downsi pupae. Pupae of P. downsi that had been exposed to C. annulifera also failed to emerge more often than expected by chance compared with no-parasitoid controls, suggesting that the parasitoids can cause developmental mortality through means other than successful parasitism. These studies constitute the first steps in evaluating C. annulifera as a potential biological control agent of P. downsi in the Gal apagos Islands.

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