Comparative demography of six fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Reproductive and population parameters were calculated for six tephritid fly braconid parasitoids: Fopius arisanus (Sonan), Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead), Fopius vandenboschi (Fullaway), Psyttalia incisi (Silvestri), Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron), and Psyttalia fletcheri (Silvestri), reared on a preferred fruit fly host: oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), or melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett). Highest numbers of eggs were produced by F. arisanus, D. longicaudata, and P. incisi. Numbers of P. fletcheri eggs produced were intermediate and those for D. tryoni and F. vandenboschi lowest. Intrinsic rates of increase were highest for F. arisanus (0.12 per female per day) and D. longicaudata (0.12 per female per day) and lowest for F. vandenboschi (0.08 per female per day). Highest net reproductive rates were obtained for P. incisi (29.4) and lowest for F. vandenboschi (10.1). Mean generation times ranged from 27.2 days for D. longicaudata to 33.4 days for P. incisi. All parasitoid species survived less than 50 days, except P. incisi which survived 133 days. Parasitoid species were shorter-lived and possessed lower reproductive rates than their fruit fly counterparts. For example, parasitoid generation times were 24.3%, 26.8%, and 11.7% shorter for F. arisanus, D. tryoni, and P. fletcheri reared on oriental fruit fly, Mediterranean fruit fly, and melon fly, respectively; however, intrinsic rates of increase were 25%, 44%, and 26.6% lower. Implications of these studies are discussed with respect to past and future biological control programs for fruit flies in Hawaii.