Ovipositor characteristics differ between two parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Figitidae) of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in an adventive landscape

By

Earley, Nathan
Abram, Paul
Lalonde, Robert G, 1955-
Moffat, Chandra

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

Journal of Hymenoptera research

Volume

95

Pages

13--30

Subjects

Biological control , Competition , Ganaspis brasiliensis , Leptopilina japonica , Morphology , niche partitioning , spotted-wing drosophila

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Washington, D.C International Society of Hymenopterists

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.95.89678

 

Abstract

Different ovipositor characteristics among parasitoid species that share similar niches are associated with different wasp life histories and selective pressures. The length of wasp ovipositors, for example, can determine the accessibility of hosts that feed at different depths within food substrates. Two parasitoids, Ganaspis brasiliensis and Leptopilina japonica (Hymenoptera, Figitidae), which attack Drosophila suzukii (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in their native range, have been investigated for their suitability for the global biological control of the small fruit pest. Despite their sympatry in microhabitat, the parasitoids have differing host ranges, and D. suzukii parasitism rates by each parasitoid species appear to depend on the fruit species occupied by the host species. Adventive populations of both parasitoids have been detected in the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States where they can be found parasitizing D. suzukii larvae in crop and non-crop fruits. We dissected and measured the ovipositors of parasitoids reared from three species of fresh fruits at three sites in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and investigated the influence of parasitoid species, fruit type, and collection site on ovipositor characteristics. We found that ovipositor length differed markedly between the two parasitoid species and between sites while ovipositor width, and stoutness, differed only between the two parasitoid species, but did not vary among sites or fruit hosts. We discuss how ovipositor morphology traits could be associated with differences in life history and host ranges in the two parasitoid species.