Medfly Population Suppression through Augmentative Release of an Introduced Parasitoid in an Irrigated Multi-Fruit Orchard of Central-Western Argentina.

Biological control through the augmentative release of parasitoids is an important complementary tool that may be incorporated into other strategies for the eradication/eco-friendly control of pest fruit flies. However, not much information is available on the effectiveness of fruit fly parasitoids as biocontrol agents in semi-arid and temperate fruit-growing regions. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of augmentative releases of the larval parasitoid (Ashmead) on (Wiedemann) (medfly) populations over two fruit seasons (2013 and 2014) on a 10 ha irrigated fruit farm in San Juan province, central-western Argentina.