ABSTRACT
Australian scientists have an active group working on six species of parasitoids for four species of tephritids, and studying behavior, population dynamics, semiochemical responses, mass-rearing, quality control, and augmentation efficacy in the field. Sivinski reports on two of the most successful uses of parasitoids in augmentative release programs against tephritid pests: the use of D. longicaudata against the Caribbean fruit fly in Florida, and the combined use of D. longicaudata and the pteromalid Pachycrepoides vindemiae against the Mediterranean fruit fly and Anastrepha spp. in Costa Rica. With a renewal in efforts worldwide to conduct classical biological control programs against tephritid flies, entomologists are encountering an increasingly restrictive and regulatory atmosphere surrounding the importation of exotic species. Renewed emphasis on classical biocontrol against fruit flies worldwide would benefit enormously from the construction of computerized databases detailing taxonomic, geographic, and climatic variables relating to opiine braconids and other tephritid parasitoids.
