The parasitoid complex of D. suzukii and other fruit feeding Drosophila species in Asia

Authors: GIROD, PIERRE - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) - Switzerland; RIS, NICOLAS - University Of Nice; BOROWIEC, NICOLAS - University Of Nice; ZHANG, JINPING - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; WU, HAO - Yunnan Agricultural University; FANG, YUAN - Yunnan Agricultural University; CHEN, GUOHUA - Yunnan Agricultural University; XIAO, CHUN - Yunnan Agricultural University; KIMURA, MASAHITO - Hokkaido University; Buffington, Matthew; PERIS-FILLIPP, FRANCISCO JAVIE - Agriculture; AEBI, ALEXANDRE - University Of Neuchatel; HAYE, TIM - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) - Switzerland; KENIS, MARC - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) - Switzerland

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/27/2018
Publication Date: 8/7/2018
Citation: Girod, P., Ris, N., Borowiec, N., Zhang, J., Wu, H., Fang, Y., Chen, G., Xiao, C., Kimura, M., Buffington, M.L., Peris-Fillipp, F.R., Aebi, A., Haye, T., Kenis, M. 2018. The parasitoid complex of D. suzukii and other fruit feeding Drosophila species in Asia. Biological Control. 8:11839.

Interpretive Summary: The pestiferous spotted wing drosophila fly costs the soft fruit industry of the United States some $550mil/year in lost revenue. These flies eat fruit from the inside out, rendering useless products and disturbed consumers. Parasitoid wasps are natrual enemies of these flies, killing them before destruction of the fruit begins. Even better, pesticides are not needed. This paper summarizes surveys conducted in the native habitat of SWD (China) and reports on what parasitoid species were recovered in numbers sufficient enough for effective biological control. The biological control community, APHIS, and extensiuon entomologists will use these data for management decisions.

Technical Abstract: The spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive insect of East Asian origin that has become a serious fruit pest worldwide. Classical biological control through the introduction of parasitoids from its region of origin could help reducing populations at landscape level and, thereby, decrease the need for management in cropping systems. However, little is known about the parasitoid complex of the fly in its region of origin, especially in China, which shares the largest part of its native distribution. Therefore, surveys for larval parasitoids of D. suzukii were carried out in 12 Chinese provinces and five Japanese prefectures between 2015 and 2017. Parasitoids of D. suzukii and other fruit-inhabiting drosophilids were found at 28 sites in four provinces in China and four prefectures in Japan. Larval parasitoids were obtained at most sites where D. suzukii was found, with parasitism varying from 0.0 to 75.6 %. At least eight parasitoid species were reared out. The most abundant and frequent parasitoids were the Figitidae Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis and Leptopilina japonica, but another Leptopilina species and at least five Braconidae species belonging to the genera Areotetes, Asobara and Tanycarpa were obtained in low numbers. In most samples, D. suzukii was accompanied by D. pulchrella or D. subpulchrella, two other Drosophilidae whose larvae live in fresh fruits in Asia and are probably attacked by the same parasitoid complex. Due to its abundance in Asia and its likely restricted host range, the most promising parasitoid for biological control is Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis. However, its exact specificity and taxonomic status require future research.