Distribution and tephritid hosts (Diptera) of braconid parasitoids (hymenoptera) in Brazil

Abstract

Tephritid parasitoids reared from 26 different host fruit species showed remarkably little diversity across 21 Brazilian counties. The majority of the parasitoids (81.4%) belonged to the braconid subfamily Opiinae, with Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti) the most commonly encountered species. Four other opiines, namely D. brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Opius bellus Gahan, Optus sp. and Utetes (Bracanastrepha) anastrephae (Viereck) were also reared, but in much smaller numbers. Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck), an alysiine braconid parasitoid of tephritids, accounted for an additional 18–6% of the individuals reared from tephritids. The hosts and distribution patterns of the braconid parasitoids of Brazilian fruit‐infesting Tephritidae are summarized.

Keywords:

• braconids
• fruit flies
• parasitoids
• Anastrepha
• Ceratitis capitata
• Rhagoletotrypeta pastranal