Development of Pseudacteon cultellatus (Diptera: Phoridae) Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri Fire Ants (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

FOLGARAIT, P.J.; BRUZZONE, O.A.; GILBERT, L.E.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY

Año: 2002 vol. 95 p. 403 - 410

0046-225X

Nothing was known about the life cycle of Pseudacteon cultellatus Borgmeier. Because this species seems to be a promising candidate for the biological control of fire ants, we studied several aspects of its development. We measured selected life history traits of the fire ant parasitoid Pseudacteon cultellatus, as a funtion of (1) host species (Solenopsis invicta Buren versus Solenopsis richteri Forel), (2) temperature (22 versus 25 ºC), and (3) size distributions of available host ants (homogeneus small versus mixed sizes of workers). We found that larval, pupal, and total developmental periods of this phorid fly were between 12 and 18% longer on S. richteri than on S. invicta, and 11-19% longer at 22 than at 25 ºC. Although larval developmental times do not differ as a function of sizes of hosts offered, average time of development in the pupal stage was extended by 12% in the case of host size mixtures which included workers larger than the phorid´s preferred host size in comparison to homogeneus small ants. P. cultellatus seems to be a promising species to attack small ants and does not need larger hosts to produce female flies. Thus, this P. cultellatus can attack the mayority of ants in a colony witout the risk of producing a male-biased ratio.