| Abstrakt: |
Simple Summary: Non-crop host plants inhabiting wild vegetation areas surrounding crops strongly influence the dynamics and abundance of polyphagous pest fruit flies, including Ceratitis capitata (Cc), Drosophila suzukii (Ds), and Anastrepha fraterculus (Af). The two former species are dangerous invasive pests widespread in all Argentinean fruit-producing regions, whereas the latter species, native to the Neotropics, coexists with those exotic species in northwestern Argentina. Integrated and eco-friendly management strategies are needed against those pests, targeting both crop and non-crop areas. Therefore, this study assessed the abundance of these pest dipterans, their seasonal infestation levels in five non-crop fruit species, relationships with competing saprophytic drosophilids, and natural parasitism. Fruits were surveyed in a disturbed wild habitat in northwestern Argentina over 40 months, and fruits were sampled from the tree canopies and ground. The results revealed that Af had the highest abundance, followed by Cc and Ds. Saprophytic drosophilids were predominant only from ground fruit samples. Spatiotemporal overlaps of different host fruit availability enabled continuous and suitable sources for pest proliferation throughout the year. The population peaks of both exotic pests coincided with the highest availability of peaches from December to January, whereas the Af population peaked during guava fruiting from February to April. These pest flies were attacked mainly by generalist parasitoids that could be useful in the conservation and augmentative biological control of these pests. Understanding the seasonal dynamics inherent to non-crop host–fruit fly–parasitoid interactions is vitally important for implementing eco-friendly pest control strategies. This study assessed the abundance and seasonal infestation levels of three pest fly species, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), as well as the related saprophytic drosophilids, and their natural parasitism in a disturbed wild habitat characterized by non-crop hosts in northwestern Argentina over 40 months. Juglans australis Griseb (walnut), Citrus aurantium L. (sour orange), Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindley (loquat), Prunus persica (L.) Batsch (peach), and Psydium guajava L. (guava) were sampled throughout their fruiting seasons. Fruits were collected from both the tree canopies and the ground. The most abundant puparia was A. fraterculus, followed by C. capitata and D. suzukii. Drosophila species from the D. melanogaster group were highly abundant only in fallen fruits. Spatiotemporal overlaps of different host fruit availability provided suitable sources for pest proliferation throughout the year. The populations of both invasive pests peaked from December to January, and were related to the highest ripe peach availability, whereas the A. fraterculus population peaked from February to April, overlapping with the guava fruiting period. The three pest fly species were parasitized mainly by three generalist resident parasitoids, which are potential biocontrol agents to use within an integrated pest management approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
