Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti, 1911)

Remarks
Doryctobracon areolatus is the most widespread species of Doryctobracon in the New World. Together with Doryctobracon crawfordi, it has been reared from many host fruits and these two species are the most commonly encountered species of Doryctobracon in general surveys of fruit-infesting flies of the Neotropics.
Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Synonyms:
Opius cereus Gahan, 1919 (= Parachasma cereum and Diachasma cereum)
Opius tucumanus Blanchard, 1966; Ovruski and Wharton (1996).
Description
This species is yellow to orange with clear wings (Figs 1, 7, 8). Males often have the apical abdominal tergites black. The banding pattern on the hind tibia (Fig. 2) is usually quite distinctive in this species. The clypeus is relatively short compared to some of the other species of Doryctobracon, and the labrum is therefore usually visible (as in Fig. 3). The propodeum is areolate (with well-developed carinae forming a distinct median areola that is more or less pentagonal (Fig. 5). About half the species of Doryctobracon have an areolate propodeum. For additional information on identification of this species, see the Doryctobracon page.
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1. D. areolatus habitus: lateral...
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2. D. areolatus leg...
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3. D. areolatus labrum: an...
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4. D. areolatus face: an...
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5. D. areolatus propodeum: a...
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6. D. areolatus head:...
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7.D. areolatus fore wing
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8. D. areolatus hind wing...
 
Diagnosis and Relationships
Go to the page on Doryctobracon for direct comparison of this species with other members of the genus.
Distribution
Recorded from northern Mexico to northern Argentina, but I have not yet seen verified records from Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, French Guiana, and Guyana. Also, with the exception of Trinidad, this species has not yet been recorded from any of the Caribbean islands. See Ovruski et al. (2000) for additional references on distribution.

Doryctobracon areolatus has been successfully introduced in Florida and it is now well established there. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to introduce this species to Hawaii (e. g. Clausen et al. 1965).

Distribution
Native
North America (Ovruski, S. M. 2003.)
Distrito Federal (Costa Lima, A. da. 1937.)
Nuevo León (Eitam, A. 1998.)
Introduced
Biology / Hosts
Reared from several native species of Anastrepha, including A. alveata Stone, A. benjamini da Costa Lima, A. consobrina (Loew), A. fraterculus (Wiedemann), A. montei da Costa Lima, A. obliqua Macquart, A. pickeli da Costa Lima, A. serpentina (Wiedemann), and A. zenildae Zucchi. Also recorded from the native species Rhagoletotrypeta pastranai Aczel in Brazil (Leonel et al. 1995, 1996) and the introduced pest Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) in Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil (Fernadez de Araoz et al. 1984, Katiyar et al. 1995, Leonel et al. 1996). Doryctobracon areolatus has also been reared from Anastrepha spatulata Stone infesting Schoepfia schreberi Gmelin (Olacaceae) in Mexico (Aluja et al. 2000) and possibly from Anastrepha schultzi in Juglandaceae in Argentina (Schliserman et al. 2004).
Biology and Behavior
This species oviposits into late instar larvae. Nearly all of the numerous publications on this species are in the form of rearing records and distribution records rather than detailed biologies. Ovruski et al. (2000) provide a review of host and distribution data and this publication is a good source for additional literature. See also the work by Eitam et al. (2003).

Additional publications include:
records from Brazil: Aguiar-Menezes and Menezes (2001), including one of the earliest reports on biology (von Ihering 1912).
diapause in Mexico: Aluja et al. (1998).
relationships between ovipositor length, fruit morphology, competition, and host location: Sivinski et al. (2001); Sivinski and Aluja (2001); Paranhos et al. (2013).
spatial and temporal distribution: Sivinski et al. (1997); Sivinski et al. (1998); Sivinski et al. (1999); Sivinski et al. (2000).
Pygidial gland: Teles da Silva and Manzoli Palma (1985).

Biological Control
Introduced to and established in Florida for biological control of Anastrepha suspensa (Baranowski and Swanson 1970, Baranowski and Swanson 1971, Baranowski, Glenn and Sivinski 1993, Eitam et al. 2004).