Detection of Aganaspis daci (Weld) (Hymenoptera: Eucoilidae) parasitizing Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in different hosts in northeastern Spain

Abstract: Aganaspis daci (Weld) is a primary solitary hymenopteran endoparasitoid larval-pupal of tephritids from Malaysia and Taiwan. It is successfully used for the control of Anastrepha suspended (Loew) and Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Teprhitidae), and it has been introduced in Hawaii, Florida, Mexico, Costa Rica and Egypt for the control of different tephritids. In the Mediterranean basin, it was identified for the first time on figs in the Greek island of Chios (2003), and later on figs and mandarins in the Valencia Region. To study its potential as biocontrol agent of C. capitata populations, different surveys of fruit from commercial orchards and scattered trees were carried out in northeastern Spain. One hundred and ninety-nine samples (710 kg of fruit) of 14 fruit species susceptible to being attacked by C. capitata were collected and kept in aerated containers until the adult emergence of C. capitata and A. daci from July to November. This hymenoptera species was recovered from six of the species of fruit trees surveyed and in the five months studied.