Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (1997) 83, 213-218

Renato C. Bautista and Ernest J. Harris (1997)
Effect of insectary rearing on host preference and oviposition behavior of the fruit fly parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 83 (2), 213-218
Abstract: Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) has been produced in the laboratory for >160 generations on the larvae of oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), the propagation hosts raised routinely on a semi-synthetic wheat diet formulation. Choice tests using modified stinging units were conducted in the laboratory to investigate whether insectary rearing had altered the host seeking and oviposition behavior of female parasitoids. Results showed that fruit fly larvae that developed in papaya, Carica papaya L. var. 'solo', were less preferred for oviposition than fruit fly larvae that developed on wheat diet when both were exposed concurrently to naive D. longicaudata females (= females without prior oviposition experience). The substrates (pureed papaya or wheat diet) in which treatment larvae were exposed to parasitoids did not affect oviposition preference of gravid D. longicaudata for wheat diet-reared fruit fly larvae. Our study demonstrated the possibility that rearing in an insectary system may have modified the parasitization behavior of female D. longicaudata.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ernest J. Harris

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
rearing/culturing/mass production

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera dorsalis		U.S.A. (Hawaii)
Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (parasitoid)	Bactrocera dorsalis		U.S.A. (Hawaii)