Diversity and seasonality of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae and Lonchaeidae) and their parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae and Figitidae) in orchards of guava, loquat and peach

Abstract

This work was carried out in orchards of guava progenies, and loquat and peach cultivars, in Monte Alegre do Sul, SP, Brazil, in 2002 and. Guavas and loquats were bagged and unbagged bi-weekly and weekly, respectively, for assessment of the infestation period. Peach was only bagged weekly. The assays started when the fruits were at the beginning of development, but still green. Ripe fruits were taken to the laboratory and placed individually into plastic cups. McPhail plastic traps containing torula yeast were hung from January 2002 to January 2004 to assess the fruit fly population in each orchard, but only the Ceratitis capitata population is here discussed. Five tephritid species were reared from the fruits: Anastrepha bistrigata Bezzi, A. fraterculus (Wiedemann), A. obliqua (Macquart), A. sororcula Zucchi, and C. capitata, in addition to six lonchaeid species: Neosilba certa (Walker), N. glaberrima (Wiedemann), N. pendula (Bezzi), N. zadolicha McAlpine and Steyskal, Neosilba sp. 4, and Neosilba sp. 10 (both species are in the process of being described by P. C. Strikis), as well as some unidentified Neosilba species. Ten parasitoid species were obtained from fruit fly puparia, of which five were braconids: Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck), Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), D. brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Opius bellus Gahan, and Utetes anastrephae (Viereck), and five figitids: Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brèthes), Dicerataspis grenadensis Ashmead, Lopheucoila anastrephae (Rhower), Leptopilina boulardi (Barbotin, Carlton and Kelner-Pillaut), and Trybliographa infuscata Diaz, Gallardo and Uchôa. Ceratitis capitata showed a seasonal behavior with population density peaking at the second semester of each year. Anastrepha and Neosilba species remained in the orchards throughout both years.

First survey of fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) and parasitoid diversity among myrtaceae fruit across the state of Bahia, Brazil

“…A. fraterculus was by far the most frequent species in all collections in this region. Our findings corroborate previous studies that show this species was also the most frequently recovered from systematic collections of guavas during the period of one to five years (SOUZA-FILHO et al, 2007;SILVA et al 2010) as well as from traps (DUTRA et al, 2009). In the southern region, guava was also infested by three Anastrepha species, A. fraterculus, A. sororcula, and A. zenildae, while Surinam cherry was infested by A. fraterculus and A. sororcula.…”

“…It is noteworthy that guava is infested by the highest diversity of fruit flies in Brazil, C. capitata and 11 species of Anastrepha (RAGA et al, 2006;SOUZA FILHO et al, 2009).…”

“…Although there has been an increase in fruit production in the state of Bahia, studies on fruit fly host associations, infestation levels, and natural enemies statewide are still scant. Most studies previously carried out in Bahia focused on a single location through fruit collection (SOUZA-FILHO et al, 2007;SILVA et al, 2008) or using traps (NASCIMENTO; ZUCCHI, 1981;DUTRA et al, 2009).…”

New records of fruit trees as host for Neosilba species (Diptera, Lonchaeidae) in southeast Brazil

“…McAlpine & Steyskal (1982) also found N. certa in I. vera, and Souza-Filho et al (2009) recorded this species in orchards of P. guajava. N. certa has already been registered in fifty host fruits, belonging to seventeen plant families ( Table 2) Table 2).…”

“…In a previous study carried out in the municipality of Monte Alegre do Sul, Souza-Filho et al (2009) reported eight species during a sampling period of one year. Silva et al (2006) carried out a two-year study in two locations in the Southern Brazil, and reported five Neosilba species.…”