Ability of Spalangia endius (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) to Parasitize Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) after Switching Hosts

Abstract

We studied the parasitism capacity of Spalangia endius as a pupal parasite of Bactocera dorsalis after switching hosts. We used pupae of B. dorsalis and M. domestica as the hosts and studied parasitism by S. endius in the laboratory. The parasitism capacities were compared at different host densities and different parasitoid ages. The two functional responses of S. endius fitted a Holling Type II equation. More M. domestica were parasitized than B. dorsalis at all the densities. The ability of S. endius to control M. domestica was α/Th (parasitism capacity) = 32.1950, which was much stronger than that of control B. dorsalis, which was α/Th = 4.7380. The parasitism rate of wasps that had parasitized B. dorsalis had decreased by the emergence time of parasitoids. These results suggest that the parasitoid-pest ratio should be 1:25 to maintain a relatively stable parasitism rate for control of B. dorsalis. The S. endius colony reared on M. domestica successfully controlled a low-density population of B. dorsalis in the lab. We provide evidence suggesting that the parasitism capacity of S. endius needs to be improved.