Parasitoids of Fruit-Infesting Tephritidae

Original description: Gates and Grissell (2004)

Described from Mexico.

A parasitoid of Anastrepha obliqua infesting Spondias, ovipositing through the host puparium. Also lab reared on A. ludens and A. serpentina (Mena-Correa et al. 2008).

The biology and behavior of this solitary, pupal ectoparasitoid has been published by Mena-Correa et al. (2010). The authors suggest that E. sivinskii may not utilise fruit semiochemical or visual cues to locate potential hosts since rates of parasitism were the same whether fruit was present or absent in their studies. Parasitoids preferentially attacked pupae on the soil surface rather than those underground, although burrowing by adults was observed. When host pupae of different ages were exposed to E. sivinski, females preferentially parasitized young pupae over older pupae. Female wasps ovipositing in hosts did not live as long as wasps prevented from ovipositing. The authors found that the intrinsic rate of natural increase is high relative to other fruit fly parasitoids and suggests that E. sivinskii could rapidly exploit patchy resources.

Immature stages were described by Gates et al. (2008).

Host range testing was conducted by Mena-Correa et al. (2008), who found this species to be polyphagous. Females successfully attacked several tephritid species as well as house flies and a tachinid. Eurytoma sivinskii is also a facultative hyperparasitoid, and is able to develop successfully on other tephritid parasitoids developing inside the puparium.