Journal of Applied Entomology (2004) 128, 716-722

X.G. Wang, A.H. Bokonon-Ganta, M.M. Ramadan and R.H. Messing (2004)
Egg-larval opiine parasitoids (Hym., Braconidae) of tephritid fruit fly pests do not attack the flowerhead-feeder Trupanea dubautiae (Dipt., Tephritidae)
Journal of Applied Entomology 128 (9-10), 716-722
Abstract: We investigated the potential impact of three opiine tephritid fruit fly parasitoids: Fopius arisanus (Sonan), Fopius caudatus (Szépligeti) and Fopius ceratitivorus Wharton, on the non-target native Hawaiian tephritid, Trupanea dubautiae (Bryan), infesting flowerheads of the endemic Asteraceae shrub Dubautia raillardioides Hillebrand. The three species are the only known opiine fruit fly parasitoids that attack host eggs (but occasionally attack first instars). F. arisanus, which originated in southeast Asia, is now widely established in Hawaii and elsewhere in the world, while the other two are African species currently in quarantine in Hawaii. In the laboratory, field-collected flowerheads of D. raillardioides containing T. dubautiae eggs and first instar larvae were exposed to naïve female wasps of each of the three Fopius species in the absence (no-choice test) or presence (choice test) of papaya fruit infested with eggs of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), the parasitoids' normal host. All three Fopius species visited the papaya fruit much more often than the flowerheads, and displayed normal ovipositional responses (probing and stinging) on the fruit in the choice test. None of the three parasitoid species showed ovipositional responses to flowerheads in either choice or no-choice tests. As a result, not a single T. dubautiae egg or larva was attacked by any of the three parasitoids, indicating that these parasitoids of pest tephritids are unable to recognize the microhabitats of flowerhead-feeding tephritids. The results suggest minimal risk of non-target impact in these biological control agents.
(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): Xin-Geng Wang, Aimé H. Bokonon-Ganta, Mohsen M. Ramadan

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
non-target effects/fate in environm.

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ceratitis capitata	Papaya (Carica papaya)	U.S.A. (Hawaii)
Fopius arisanus (parasitoid)	Ceratitis capitata		U.S.A. (Hawaii)
Fopius ceratitivorus (parasitoid)	Ceratitis capitata		U.S.A. (Hawaii)
Fopius caudatus (parasitoid)	Ceratitis capitata		U.S.A. (Hawaii)