A new potential biological control agent—the interaction between the parasitoid fly Neobrachelia edessae (Diptera: Tachinidae) and the stink bug Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Tachinid flies are natural enemies of adult hemipterans of the family Pentatomidae, which are considered pests of economically important crops. We evaluated the performance of Neobrachelia edessae Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae), a Neotropical parasitoid fly of the stink bug Edessa meditabunda (Fab.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), and assessed the effects of parasitism on host longevity, fecundity, and fertility. Differences in parasitism rates were analysed considering host exposure times, number of male parasitoids per experimental unit, maternal origin of the female fly, and sex of the offered host. In addition, the performance of the F1 generation was evaluated in terms of parasitism success. Female performance improved with longer host exposure times, when female parasitoids had copulated with more than one male, and when female flies were obtained from field-collected hosts. More than 60% of the progeny from the parasitoid females that were allowed to copulate with more than one male were able to pupate, whereas when parasitoid females copulated with only one male, just 44% of the progeny were able to pupate. Parasitism decreases the longevity of both male and female hosts and reduced both the fecundity and fertility of females. Moreover, parasitized E. meditabunda exhibited lifespans of approximately half those of unparasitized stink bugs. In addition, parasitized females experienced an approximate 30% decline in fecundity and a 23% decline in fertility relative to unparasitized females. These results indicate that N. edessae has a strong potential as a biological control agent of E. meditabunda.