ABSTRACT
The commercial crop of mango has expanded successfully along the Pacific coast of Mexico. The most important pest species of mango in this region is Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), with the exception of Chiapas, where Anastrepha ludens (Loew) is considered to be the mango pest of highest priority. Effective integrated management of Anastrepha in commercial areas maintains the high-level of mango production. Intense technical activities inside orchards control Anastrepha populations. However, a latent problem is the presence of Anastrepha populations in the surrounding wild areas. Application of augmentative releases of the Anastrepha spp. parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) was proposed to reduce pest flies in wild areas. A percentage of parasitism between 30% and 50% reduced the risk of Anastrepha populations invading mango orchards. Although the specific objective of the biological control program in each region varies, the general intention is to achieve the control of Anastrepha populations in wild fruit hosts in the peripheral areas. The most successful use of augmentative biological control to maintain a low Anastrepha prevalence occurred in the producing area of Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, where high parasitism levels were found in A. obliqua–infested fruits of the genus Spondias and creole mango. Parasitism of Anastrepha spp. was more important when small fruits were infested, such as species of Spondias (>50%), but the effectiveness was decreased when large fruits were infested, such as sour orange (<30%) infested by A. ludens in the Coast of Chiapas. Augmentative parasitoid releases contributed to the suppression of fruit fly populations in the surrounding areas of commercial mango orchards. This has become an important technique included in the integrated pest management (IPM) of the National Program of Fruit Flies in Mexico.
