(Distribution and Abundance of Housefly Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) at the Poultry Farms in Malaysia)

A study of distribution and abundance of parasitoid of housefly (Musca domestica) was conducted at the poultry farm in selected states of Peninsular Malaysia. It was found that the parasitoid species parasitizing housefly pupae were Splangia endius, Splangia cameroni, Dirhinus himalayanus and Pachycrepoideus vindemiae. The S. endius and D. himalayanus were found in all states compared with the P. vindemiae. The abundance (number of individual) and distribution of S. endius was significantly (p 0.05) higher than the other three parasitoids. However, the abundance of D. himalayanus, S. cameroni and P. vindemiae was not significantly different among the states. This shows that S. endius has the potential to be as a biological control agent of housefly at the poultry farms in Malaysia. Comparatively, parasitoid was highly abundant and differed significantly (p 0.05) in layer than broiler chicken poultry farm. There is a highly significant (p 0.05) difference among populations of parasitoids in the poultry farm in Johor than Kelantan, but no significant differences (p 0.05) between Johor, Selangor, Pulau Pinang and Pahang. No significant difference (p 0.5) was recorded between pupae of the housefly and parasitoid collected through the sampling periods and among states. Environmental factors namely temperature and rainfall did not influence the distribution and fluctuation of the parasitoid populations. The potential of S. endius and D. himalayanus produced commercially is also discussed.