Prospects for biological control of the avian nest parasite Philornis downsi in the Galápagos Islands

BULGARELLA , M.; HEIMPEL, G.; BRITO VERA, G.; QUIROGA, M.

Minneapolis

Congreso; 63rd Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting; 2015

Entomological Society of America

Philornis downsiis a parasitic fly introduced to the Galapagos Islands between 1950 and 1960.Recently P. downsi was found nearbyGuayaquil harbor, port from where most cargo ships depart to Galapagos and thusprobably transporting this parasite to the islands. The impact on hosts is devastatingin the Galapagos, while it is not like that in mainland Ecuador. So, are therenatural enemies in the native range that are holding its populations down? Yes.Out of the four parasitoids that emerged from Philornis pupae collected inmainland Ecuador, only Conura annuliferashowed potential to be used for biological control; since it only parasitized P. downsi pupae in lab assays. Furtherresearch is needed to determine if C.annulifera could be used as biological control for P. downsi in Galapagos islands.