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Coptera haywardi (Oglobin) is an endoparasitoid of fruit fly pupae that could find itself in competition with other parasitoids, both con- and heterospecific, already resident inside hosts. In choice bioassays, ovipositing C. haywardi females strongly discriminated against conspecifically parasitised Anastrepha ludens (Loew) pupal hosts. They also avoided pupae previously attacked by Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead), a larval–prepupal koinobiont endoparasitoid, and the degree of larval-parasitoid superparasitism had no effect on this avoidance. There was no difference in the number of ovipositor insertions when hosts previously parasitised by a conspecific and D. longicaudata were exposed simultaneously. As females aged the degree of host discrimination declined. An ability to discriminate against pupae previously attacked as larvae suggests low levels of both conspecific and heterospecific competition in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to ascertain if eight species of native larval-prepupal and pupal Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) parasitoids which have been recently domesticated and colonized (Aluja et al. in press) could be reared on irradiated larvae and pupae, and if such was the case, determine the optimal irradiation dose so that only adult parasitoids (not flies) would emerge. The species considered were: Doryctobracon crawfordi, Utetes anastrephae, Opius hirtus (all larval-prepupal braconids), Aganaspis pelleranoi, Odontosema anastrephae (both larval-prepupal figitids), Coptera haywardi, Eurytoma sivinskii and Dirhinus sp. (diapriid, eurytomid and chalcidoid pupal parasitoids). Eight-day-old A. ludens larvae or 3-day-old A. ludens pupae were irradiated with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60 and 70 Gy under free oxygen and then subjected to parasitoid attack. Emergence of the unparasitized host was completely halted at 20-25 Gy but such was not the case with the three braconid parasitoids that emerged even if subjected to doses as high as 70 Gy. In the case of the figitids, the emergence of the host and the parasitoids was completely halted at 20 and 25 Gy, respectively. Some parasitoid emergence was recorded at 5-15 Gy but at this irradiation dose, fly adults also emerged rendering the fly/parasitoid separation procedures impractical. Finally, in the case of the pupal parasitoids, A. ludens adults emerged from unparasitized pupae irradiated at 15 Gy. Beyond this dose, only parasitoids emerged. With the exception of the figitid larval-prepupal parasitoids, irradiation did not negatively affect adult longevity or fecundity. Our results show that parasitoid mass rearing with irradiated hosts is technically feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the techniques used to colonize and domesticate seven native New World species of hymenopterous parasitoids that attack flies within the genus Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae). All parasitoid species successfully developed on artificially reared Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew) larvae or pupae. The parasitoid species colonized were the following: Doryctobracon areolatus (Szepligeti), Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck), Opius hirtus (Fischer), Utetes anastrephae (Viereck) (all Braconidae, Opiinae), Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brethes) and Odontosema anastrephae Borgmeier (both Figitidae, Eucoilinae) (all larval-pupal parasitoids), and the pupal parasitoid Coptera haywardi (Ogloblin) (Diapriidae, Diapriinae). We provide detailed descriptions of the different rearing techniques used throughout the domestication process to help researchers elsewhere to colonize local parasitoids. We also describe handling procedures such as number of hosts in parasitization units and compare optimal host and female age, differences in parasitism rate, developmental time, life expectancy and variation in sex ratios in each parasitoid species over various generations. In the case of D. crawfordi and C. haywardi we also provide partial information on mass-rearing techniques such as cage type, parasitization unit, larval irradiation dose and adult handling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]