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1 September 2012 Individual and Combined Releases of Muscidifurax raptor and M. raptorellus (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) as a Biological Control Tactic Targeting House Flies in Dairy Calf Facilities
Phillip E. Kaufman, Colleen Strong, J. Keith Waldron, Donald A. Rutz
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Abstract

The impact of commercially reared house fly parasitoids released into nine dairy calf coverall facilities were evaluated over 3 yr. Individual and equally mixed ratios of the pteromalid parasitoids Muscidifurax raptor Girault and Saunders and M. raptorellus Kogan and Legner were released at a rate of 500 parasitoids per calf per week for 8 wk. Prerelease, release, and postrelease parasitism was monitored using nearly 100,000 sentinel house fly, Musca domestica L., pupae during the 3 yr study. In general, very few adult parasitoids were recovered during the prerelease period and on the no-release farms during any period. However, considerable numbers of M. raptor and M. raptorellus were recovered from sentinel pupae on respective release farms. As expected, the greatest successful parasitism occurred during release periods, with a drop during postrelease periods. High successful parasitism and uneclosed pupae on M. raptorellus release farms suggests that this parasitoid was aggressive in attacking hosts with progeny production at approximately four wasps per pupa. Solitary releases of M. raptor provided sentinel mortality between 31 and 38%, whereas sentinel mortality on M. raptorellus-release farms was double, at 59–80%. Using mixed releases of the two species, overall fly mortality was slightly lower than that observed on M. raptorellus-only farms. This study documents the advantage of releasing M. raptorellus rather than M. raptor on New York dairy calf facilities, as supported by higher parasitism rates and lower costs (35–75%) for purchase of these gregarious wasps, as 75–80% fewer parasitized pupae are needed to achieve similar adult parasitoid levels.

© 2012 Entomological Society of America
Phillip E. Kaufman, Colleen Strong, J. Keith Waldron, and Donald A. Rutz "Individual and Combined Releases of Muscidifurax raptor and M. raptorellus (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) as a Biological Control Tactic Targeting House Flies in Dairy Calf Facilities," Journal of Medical Entomology 49(5), 1059-1066, (1 September 2012). https://doi.org/10.1603/ME11181
Received: 17 August 2011; Accepted: 1 June 2012; Published: 1 September 2012
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
biological control
dairy
Musca domestica
Pteromalidae
sentinel pupae
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