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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.

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A braconid parasitoid, D iachasmimorpha tryoni (Cam eron), was released from the air into G uatem alan coVee plantations that contained Mediterranean fruit¯ies, C eratitis capitata (Weidem ann) . Parasitoid adults were chilled, placed in paper bags, and dropped from an altitude of 100 m and at an airspeed of~130 km /h. Releases were made at four diVerent densities over a period of two years. At the higher release rates parasitism levels reached as high as 84%. T he feasibility of using a more technically sophisticated aerial release technique, the auger sterile-insect release machine utilized in C. capitata sterile-¯y aerial eradication projects in California and Florida, was also examined. Chilled D. tryoni either alone or in com bination w ith chilled, sterile C. capitata, were dropped over target areas and the released parasitoids exam ined for m ortality and damage. Sam ples of released parasitoids were taken and tested for`¯ight ability' ; i.e.¯ight response after an opportu nity to recover from chilling. T here was no evidence of signi® cant mortality due to aerial release, and the¯ight-ability of insects released at various rates and altitudes did not signi® cantly diVer from chilled controls that were not released from an airplane.

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