Effectiveness of <i>Diachasmimorpha longicaudata</i> in Killing <i>Ceratitis capitata</i> Larvae Infesting Commercial Fruits in Dryland Agroecosystems of Western Argentina
Lorena del Carmen Suárez | Segundo Ricardo Núñez-Campero | Fernando Murúa | Flávio Roberto Mello Garcia | Sergio Marcelo Ovruski
<i>Ceratitis capitata</i> (Wiedemann) (medfly) strongly affects Argentinean fruit production and export. Augmentative biological control using the exotic parasitoid <i>Diachasmimorpha longicaudata</i> (Ashmead) is currently applied to this problem. The ability to find and parasitize medfly larvae on a wide diversity of fruit host species is a key issue that needs to be analyzed. This research assessed the effect of the physical features of fruit on the preference of foraging <i>D. longicaudata</i> females and the influence of varying release density on parasitoid performance as a pest mortality factor in three fruit species. Trials were performed inside field cages under semi-arid environmental conditions in Argentina’s central-western fruit-growing region. Sweet orange, peach, and fig were tested. The fruits were inoculated with third-instar larvae of the Vienna-8 temperature-sensitive lethal medfly strain. Naïve, 5 d-old mated <i>D. longicaudata</i> females were released in cages at 20, 40, 80, and 160 parasitoid densities. The highest levels of medfly mortality and parasitoid emergence were recorded in fig and peach, although <i>D. longicaudata</i> also induced mortality in orange, a fruit with few physical features favorable to parasitism. The medfly mortality in all fruit host species significantly increased with an increased number of parasitoid females released into the field cages. <i>Diachsmimorpha longicaudata</i> has high potential as a medfly biocontrol agent.
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