Parasitoid wasps of synanthropic flies from Iran Radi Ehsan1,*, Khoobdel Mehdi, Akbarzaderh Kamran, Karimian Behroom3, Malekian Azam2 Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control 1Health Research Centre Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran 3Department of Biochemistry, School of Public Health, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran *Email: ehsan.radi@yahoo.com
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract Synanthropic flies belong to the order Diptera and these are considered as medical or veterinary pests. This study is an attempt to identify native parasitoid wasps of these flies for selecting a suitable biological control agent. The pupae of Musca domestica, Lucilia sericata and Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis were used for attracting parasitic wasps, with 50 pupae of each species placed in dishes. The results revealed parasitoids viz., Nasonia vitripennis, Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae and Spalangia nigroaenea (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), with majority being N. vitripennis. Spalangia nigroaenea was obtained only from house fly pupae. Of the three parasitoids, only N. vitripennis exhibited polyembryony with eleven adults from single pupa. The study reveals that N. vitripennis might be a candidate for biocontrol of synanthropic flies, and S. nigroaenea is suitable for specific control of house fly. Top Keywords Iran, synanthropic flies, pupal parasitoids, Pteromalidae, Iran, Nasonia, Pachycrepoideus, Spalangia, house fly, biocontrol. Top |