Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2017) 163, 287-295

Luis de Pedro, Francisco Beitia, Beatriz Sabater-Muñoz, Ahlem Harbi, Fernando Ferrara, Carlo Polidori, Josep Daniel Asís and José Tormos (2017)
Parasitism of Aganaspis daci against Ceratitis capitata under Mediterranean climate conditions
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 163 (3), 287-295
Abstract: The effect of environmental factors is essential to the success of parasitoids as biological control agents, as it determines their foraging activity, development, and survival. The larval-pupal parasitoid wasp Aganaspis daci (Weld) (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) is known to have a very low fertility (i.e., offspring production) in the field in certain Mediterranean areas, probably due to its inability to efficiently oviposit under such climatic conditions. In this study, the percentage of parasitism and induced mortality (mortality of host pupae attributed to parasitoids, from which adults do not emerge) caused by this wasp to the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), was assessed under field conditions across 1 year, using medfly-infested apples and parasitoid-confined release in a lemon orchard of southeastern Spain. As A. daci is known to have very few emergences in the field, fertility was assessed in the laboratory from parasitized pupae recovered from the field. We found average parasitism rates of 27% and high induced mortality rates of 66% under field conditions. Consequently, medfly population reduction (total mortality of C. capitata caused by A. daci, i.e., induced mortality + % parasitism) was, on average, 87%. Parasitism and induced mortality varied throughout the year, depending on the average temperature and relative humidity. The interaction of these factors resulted in the highest parasitism rates at low mean temperature and humidity values; likewise, the highest percentages of induced mortality were obtained with a combination of high mean temperature and low mean humidity values. In conclusion, A. daci may exert a strong impact on medfly populations, being a good candidate for inundative field releases for the management of C. capitata in the Mediterranean Basin.
(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): José Tormos, Beatriz Sabater-Munoz

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ceratitis capitata
Aganaspis daci (parasitoid)	Ceratitis capitata