Taxonomic redescription and biological notes on Diaugia angusta (Diptera, Tachinidae): parasitoid of the palm boring weevils Metamasius ensirostris and M. hemipterus (Coleoptera, Dryophthoridae)

Abstract

Diaugia angusta Perty, 1833 is a Neotropical species of Tachinidae (Diptera) reported here as a parasitoid of Metamasius ensirostris (Germar, 1824) and Metamasius hemipterus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) in Brazil. Several species of Dryophthoridae and Curculionidae cause damage to bromeliad and palm species, and most are regarded as pests. In the present study, the male and female of Diaugia angusta are morphologically characterized and illustrated to provide a means for the identification of this parasitoid. Data obtained from preliminary field research show that natural parasitism of Metamasius pupae by Diaugia angusta varies by year but can reach nearly 30%. A network of parasitoid-host interactions among tachinid parasitoids and coleopteran hosts reported as bromeliad and palm pests (Dryophthoridae and Curculionidae) in the Americas indicates that the species of the tribe Dexiini sensu lato (including Diaugia angusta) might be promising as biological control agents of these pests.

Ichneumonids (Hymenoptera) and Tachinid Flies (Diptera) Associated to Leptidopterans in Soybean Crops

“…In Lepidoptera, tachinid flies are naturally occurring beneficial agents with potential for biological pest control (Stireman et al, 2006;Nihei & Pavarini, 2011). Although tachinid flies comprise more than 1.500 known genera (O'Hara, 2012), only six have been recorded in this study.…”

Billaea rhynchophorae, a palm weevil parasitoid with global potential

“…The taxonomic position of the genus Billaea in the tribe Dexiini, a grouping of flies with exclusively viviparous or ovoviviparous reproduction and coleopterous hosts is a strong indication of specialization. This is reinforced by the existing host records for the genus Billaea: almost all known hosts are larvae of coleopterous borers of woody plants, the only exception is Billaea claripalpis Wulp, a parasitoid of D. saccharalis in sugarcane (Nihei and Pavarini, 2011). The taxonomic information alone is already an indication of high specialization of the Moura flies and consequently a low risk associated with an introduction.…”

“…The fertility of females is generally high and, depending on the species, they produce between 500 and 3000 eggs (O'Hara, 1985). Most species in the subfamily attack plant-boring coleoptera hidden inside the plant tissue (Nihei and Pavarini, 2011). Therefore, females do not have direct contact with their host, but deposit their larvae or eggs onto the frass produced by the larvae of the borers or into the openings of the larval galleries (Arnaud, 1978;Campadelli and Gardenghi, 1991).…”

“…This is particularly true for Tachinidae species whose host range in general is considerably wider than in other parasitoid families (Eggleton and Belshaw, 1993). Therefore, the first consideration in the case of Billaea is of taxonomic nature: Billaea belongs to the Theresiini tribe of the subfamily Dexiinae that has specialized on coleopterous borer larvae, mainly of the Dryophthoridae family (Nihei and Pavarini, 2011). According to these authors, the only exception is B. claripalpis, widely used in Colombia for biological control of the sugarcane borer, D. saccharalis (Vargas, 2015).…”

Lespesia melloi sp. nov. (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Brazil, a parasitoid of Xanthopastis timais(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…Their hosts are predominantly other insects, including species belonging to eight orders, most of which are the lepidopteran larvae ( Wood and Zumbado 2010 ). Given this behavior, many tachinid species have great potential as biological control agents for forests and crop pests ( Stireman et al 2006 , Nihei and Pavarini 2011 ).…”