First record of the fruit fly parasitoid Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Brazil

Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck) was recorded in the states of Amapá and Roraima, Brazil. This is also the first time that this parasitoid is associated with Anastrepha atrigona Hendel from Geissospermum argenteum.

Symbiofauna associated to the reproductive system of Cotesia flavipes and Doryctobracon areolatus (Hymenoptera, Braconidae)

The diversity of symbionts associated with insects and the range of effects they exert on their hosts haveprompted studies to understand the role these microorganisms may have on host biology, particularly inrelation to the interaction of their hosts with other trophic levels. There is also a possibility of using suchsymbionts as vectors of genes for insect control or learning on the mechanisms they use to interact with theirhosts for the development of new approaches to insect control. Since most of these symbionts are transmittedtransovarially from one generation to another, we used electron microscopy to assess the occurrence andmorphology of these microorganisms in the female reproductive tissues of two important insect pestparasitoids, the braconids Cotesia flavipes and Doryctobracon areolatus. Cotesia flavipes was associatedwith a polydnavirus (PDV), whereas D. areolatus harbored the rickettsia-like bacterium Wolbachia. Theultrastructural morphology and localization of these symbionts in their host ovaries are described. None ofthe populations of the species studied were associated with non-PDV particles, and their sole associationwith specific symbionts will facilitate studies on the role of these symbionts in the association with theirhosts, and on the associations of their hosts with other trophic levels.