Natural Occurrence of Parasitoids ofAnastrephaspp. Schiner, 1868 (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Different Host Plants, in Itaguai (RJ), Brazil

The relationship amongAnastrephaspp. flies, their parasitoids, and host plants in Itaguai (RJ), Brazil, is described. Samples of mature fruit were taken from 12 different host plant species. Four species of braconid parasitoids and four species of tephritids subsequently emerged from the collections.Anastrepha fraterculus(Wiedemann) was parasitized by all of the braconids, i.e.,Doryctobracon areolatus(Szepligeti),D. brasiliensis(Szepligeti),Utetes (Bracanastrepha) anastrephae(Viereck), andOpius bellusGahan.A. obliqua(Macquart) andA. distinctaGreene were attacked by all the parasitoids, exceptD. brasiliensis. A. sororculaZucchi was parasitized byD. areolatusandU. anastrephae. A. obliquawas the most common fly species.D. areolatusaccounted for 89.23% of the total parasitization. The overall rate of parasitism ofAnastrephaspp. was 10.4%. However, parasitism varied considerably among host plants. Flies fromEugenia uniflora, E. brasiliensis, Spondias purpurea,andPsidium guajavawere the most heavily parasitized at 59.64, 23.27, 17.47, and 16.02%, respectively. Some tropical fruit host plants for theAnastrephaflies markedly facilitate parasitoid multiplication and deserve attention both as reservoirs of natural enemies and as targets for biological control within integrated fruit fly control programs.