Elevation-dependent Parasitism of Lucilia sericata Pupae in Tehran City

Background: Diptera is the most important order of insects which poses serious economic and health problems. The flies are the most developed dipteran insects that thrive throughout the year due to high reproductive capacity and compatibility with divers environmental conditions. The common green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata is a synanthropic insect, which share a range of habitats with human being. Given the health and environmental challenges of insecticide application, biological methods for controlling flies remains desirable. Objectives: This study aimed at exploring the intensity of parasitism of pupal stage of Lucilia sericata in different elevations in Tehran City.Materials and methods: One hundred two-day-old pupae of Lucilia sericata were exposed to parasitism for one day in an open container outside the laboratory. The container was placed at 3 elevations above the ground ranging from 0 to 40 meters. The pupae were transferred to insectarium and the parasitism rates were checked. The emerged parasitoids were then taxonomically identified. The experiment was repeated thrice.Results: The rates of parasitism was estimated to be 18%, 21% and 28% for 0, 10 and 40 meters above the ground respectively. The only emerged parasitoid was identified to be Nasonia vitripennis. The parasitic wasps screwed the dead pupae laterally to emerge.Conclusion: Nasonia vitripennis showed potency to be an efficient and specific parasitoid for biological control of Lucilia sericata at pupal stage. The development rate of the parasitoid was found to be synchronized with that of the fly pupal stage.

Keywords:

Biological control , Parasitoid wasp , Nasonia vitripennis , synanthropic flies , Lucilia sericata , pupal parasitoid