Food sources for adult Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, a parasitoid of tephritid fruit flies: effects on longevity and fecundity

We report the results of a study on potential food sources of the widely distributed Indo-Australian braconid fruit fly parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Adults sustained life on diets of fruit juice or fruit pulp, a homopteran and its associated honeydew,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Entomologia experimentalis et applicata 2006-03, Vol.118 (3), p.193-202
Main Authors: Sivinski, John, Aluja, Martin, Holler, Tim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adult diet
adult foods
adult insects
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Bidens alba
Biological and medical sciences
Biological control
biological control agents
Braconidae
Brassica nigra
Control
Diachasmimorpha longicaudata
Diptera
experimental diets
extrafloral nectary
fecundity
fruit exudates
fruit flies
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
honey
Hymenoptera
insect nutrition
insect reproduction
Lantana camara
Lobularia maritime
longevity
nectar
nutritional ecology
nutritive value
parasitoids
Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
pollen
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Protozoa. Invertebrates
Spermacoce
Tephritidae
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Summary:We report the results of a study on potential food sources of the widely distributed Indo-Australian braconid fruit fly parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Adults sustained life on diets of fruit juice or fruit pulp, a homopteran and its associated honeydew, or extrafloral nectary secretions. Longevities on all these foods and fecundity on fruit juice were comparable to those achieved on the honey that is typically provided in mass-rearing programs. Certain of the flower species Bidens alba (L.), Spermacoce verticillata L., Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv., Brassica nigra (L.), Lantana camara L., their nectar or pollen, provided a diet that resulted in longer maximum life spans than water alone. Unlike some tephritid flies, the braconid did not feed on fresh bird feces or leaf-surface exudates. Feeding by D. longicaudata on wounded host fruits of tephritid flies suggests that adult parasitoids would not need separate forays for adult food and oviposition sites, as these occur in the same locations. We conclude that an inventory of adult foods may help target inundative releases of D. longicaudata and lead to improvements in diets used for mass rearing.
ISSN:0013-8703
1570-7458
DOI:10.1111/j.1570-7458.2006.00379.x