Chalcid Hymenopteran parasitoid Dirhinus giffardii Silvestri proficiently disturbed house fly production

ObjectivesMan is always conscious about his health, and is well being challenged by many diseases. These diseases are directly causing hazards and most of them are transmitted through a vector. These vectors (mostly insects) have the ability to transfer / spread pathogenic organisms and that have the potential to cause severe epidemics. The house fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) plays a leading role in spreading more than 100 human and animal diseases. House fly is an eternal issue and mostly the management tactics rely on the use of chemicals either as spray, fumigants or baits. Unauthenticated behavior of these chemicals creates lethal effects on biological ecosystem, furthermore these measures may not be an effective options for outdoor management. For natural and safe option, bio-control strategy is being utilized to make environment healthy and clean. The present study was a part of such effort to use this strategy and validate the biological performance of the potential pupal parasitoid Dirhinus giffardii Silvestri against house fly and provide alternative and safe control of filthy flies. This is the first report on parasitism potential of D. giffardii Silvestri against house fly.ResultsThe D. giffardii Silvestri, 1913 (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), early reported as an effective pupal parasitoid of tephritid flies, here in the case presented, showed overall 70% reduction in the house fly population by parasitizing pupae. The parasitism efficiency and longevity of hymenopteran parasitoid was remarkably noted two-fold higher on house fly pupae as compared to primary hosts (Tephritids). An amazing results were recorded on house fly parasitism, where, female production was increased one fold as compared to tephritids. Furthermore, sex ratio of the resultant progeny was also confirmed the dominancy of female by 74% as compared to males. Based on the unique and remarkable findings we therefore conclude that D. giffardii is the best bio-control agent for controlling house flies and provide healthy, clean and ecofriendly environment.

Exposure Time and age Links Parasitism, Emergence and Development of Pupal Parasitoid Dirhinus giffardii Against Bactrocera zonata

The parasitism, emergence and development of pupal parasitoid, Dirhinus giffardii (Silvestri) was assessed against the pupae of the fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata (Saunders), under laboratory conditions. The fruit fly and D. giffardii were reared in glass cages on the artificial diet, and a known number of different 1-hour (fresh), 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 4-day old pupae were offered to the respective parasitoids for a period of 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours. It was noted that the parasitism was increased gradually with an increase in pupal age and exposure time. The highest parasitism occurred on 3-day old pupae followed by 4-day, 2-day, 1-day and 1 hour (fresh) old pupae. The studies also manifested that exposure time and host age have a significant effect on the oviposition, per female parasitism, percent parasitism, emergence and development of pupal parasitoid, D. giffardii. The average developmental time of parasitoid was recorded significantly longer in 1-hour (fresh) old pupae than in the older pupae. The study revealed that D. giffardii is a virtuous candidate for the biological control of B. zonata and the pupae of B. zonata might be the perfect host for laboratory rearing of this parasitoid.

Description of the new species Coptera tonic (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae), a pupal parasitoid of Rhagoletis juniperina Marcovitch (Diptera, Tephritidae), and revised partial keys to Nearctic Coptera Say

A new species of the parasitic wasp Coptera Say was previously distinguished from other species via correspondence between ecological (host) differences and DNA barcodes. A description and figures for Coptera tonicsp. nov., along with revisions to existing keys that allow it to be distinguished from other Nearctic species without the aid of molecular characters, is provided in this work.

Releases of Trichopria drosophilae on cherry, in three locations at different altitudes in South Tyrol (northeastern Italy) and its potential to parasitize Drosophila suzukii

In recent years, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: drosophilidae) caused serious damages in cherries and small fruits cultivations in South Tyrol, making it difficult for growers to continue their activities without production losses. Biological control of the pest could play an important role in its population regulation, by lowering the pest pressure at the beginning of the season. This study aims to evaluate the potential of Trichopria drosophilae Perkins (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae), an indigenous pupal parasitoid of drosophilids, in parasitizing D. suzukii in cherry orchards situated at different altitudes and characterized by different agronomic peculiarities. The release trials showed the ability of the parasitoid to find and parasitize artificially exposed pupae of D. suzukii in two out of three localities, up to 915 m. The results highlight the importance for the released species of an adequate surrounding environment for its spread and establishment.