Medfly Population Suppression through Augmentative Release of an Introduced Parasitoid in an Irrigated Multi-Fruit Orchard of Central–Western Argentina

Biological control through the augmentative release of parasitoids is an important complementary tool that may be incorporated into other strategies for the eradication/eco-friendly control of pest fruit flies. However, not much information is available on the effectiveness of fruit fly parasitoids as biocontrol agents in semi-arid and temperate fruit-growing regions. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of augmentative releases of the larval parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) on Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (medfly) populations over two fruit seasons (2013 and 2014) on a 10 ha irrigated fruit farm in San Juan province, central–western Argentina. The parasitoids were mass reared on irradiated medfly larvae of the Vienna-8 temperature-sensitive lethal genetic sexing strain. About 1692 (±108) parasitoids/ha were released per each of the 13 periods throughout each fruit season. Another similar farm was chosen as a control of non-parasitoid release. The numbers of captured adult flies in food-baited traps and of recovered fly puparia from sentinel fruits were considered the main variables to analyze the effect of parasitoid release on fly population suppression using a generalized least squares model. The results showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the medfly population on the parasitoid release farm when compared to the Control farm, demonstrating the effectiveness of augmentative biological control using this exotic parasitoid. Thus, D. longicaudata could be used in combination with other medfly suppression strategies in the fruit production valleys of San Juan.Fil: Suárez, Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Buonocore Biancheri, María Josefina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Murúa, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Ordano, Mariano Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Wang, Xingeng. No especifíca;Fil: Cancino, Jorge. No especifíca;Fil: Mello Garcia, Flavio Roberto. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Sánchez, Guillermo Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Beltrachini, Sergio. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Kulichevsky, Luis Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Ovruski Alderete, Sergio Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentin