Parasitoids of Fruit-Infesting Tephritidae

Fopius vandenboschi (Fullaway, 1952)

See comments under the Fopius persulcatus species group on the Fopius page.

Biosteres javanus Fullaway, 1920. (not Opius javanus Szepligeti, 1908).
Opius vandenboschi Fullaway, 1952 (new name for javanus Fullaway, preoccupied in Opius by javanus Szepligeti).
Biosteres vandenboschi (Fullaway): Fischer (1971).

This species has previously been placed in both Opius and Biosteres. Biosteres javanus Fullaway, 1920 is a synonym.

Striate sculpture on the second metasomal tergum and frons densely covered with large punctures are characteristics of this and other members of the Fopius persulcatus species group.

A tabular summary of morphological features that facilitates comparison of the known species of Fopius is provided by Wharton (1999).

There are several color morphs that occur in Southeast Asia, and additional study is needed to determine whether they represent a single, color-variable species or multiple cryptic species.

see Wharton and Gilstrap 1983. This species was originally described from material collected in Buitenzorg, Java, reared from Bactrocera infesting Capsicum.

Native

Borneo (Clausen, C. P.; Clancy, D. W.; Chock, Q. C. 1965.; Dresner, E. 1954.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.; Cochereau, P. 1970.)

India (Clausen, C. P.; Clancy, D. W.; Chock, Q. C. 1965.; Dresner, E. 1954.; Waterhouse, D. F. 1993.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.)

Rajasthan (Singh, M. P. 1989.)

Java (Fullaway, D. T. 1920.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.; Cochereau, P. 1970.)

Malaysia (Clausen, C. P. 1956.; Waterhouse, D. F. 1993.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.; Duan, J. J. and Messing, R. H. 1997.; Chua, T. H. 1993.; Ramadan, M. M.; Wong, T. T. Y.; Messing, R. H. 1995.; Ibrahim, R. B. 1986.; Cochereau, P. 1970.; Serit, M. and Keng-Hong, T. 1990.; Serit, M.; Jaal, Z.; Tan, K. H. 1987.; Chua, T. H. 1991.; Chua, T. H. and Khoo, S. G. 1995.; Chinajariyawong, A. ; Clarke, A. R. ; Jirasurat, M.; Kritsaneepiboon, S.; Lahey, H. A. ; Vijaysegaran, S.; Walter, G. H. 2000.; Clausen, C. P. 1978.)

Taiwan (Waterhouse, D. F. 1993.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Wharton, R. A. and Gilstrap, F. E. 1983.; Chinajariyawong, A. ; Clarke, A. R. ; Jirasurat, M.; Kritsaneepiboon, S.; Lahey, H. A. ; Vijaysegaran, S.; Walter, G. H. 2000.)

Thailand (Clausen, C. P.; Clancy, D. W.; Chock, Q. C. 1965.; Dresner, E. 1954.; Waterhouse, D. F. 1993.; Palacio, I. P.; Ibrahim, A. G.; Ibrahim, R. 1988.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.; Cochereau, P. 1970.)

Introduced

Australia (. 0.)

Morelos (Coronado Blanco, J. M.; Ruiz Cancino, E.; Varela Fuentes, S. E. 2004.)

Hawaii (Bess, H. A. 1953.; Tamashiro, M. and Sherman, M. 1955.; Purcell, M. F. 1998.; Waterhouse, D. F. 1993.; Kaya, H. K. and Nishida, T. 1968.; Vargas, R. I.; Stark, J. D.; Uchida, G. K.; Purcell, M. 1993.; Gilstrap, F. E. and Hart, W. G. 1987.; Bess, H. A.; van den Bosch, R.; Haramoto, F. H. 1961.; Wharton, R. A. 1987.; Purcell, M. F.; Herr, J. C.; Messing, R. H.; Wong, T. T. Y. 1998.; Wong, T. T. Y.; Mochizuki, N.; Nishimoto, J. I. 1984.; Ramadan, M. M.; Wong, T. T. Y.; Messing, R. H. 1995.; Wong, T. T. Y. and Ramadan, M. M. 1987.; Bennett, F. D.; Rosen, D.; Cochereau, P.; Wood, B. J. 1976.; Wilson, F. 1960.; Stark, J. D.; Vargas, R. I.; Thalman, R. K. 1991.; Purcell, M. F.; Jackson, C. G.; Long, J. P.; Batchelor, M. A. 1994.; Stark, J. D.; Vargas, R. I.; Walsh, W. A. 1994.; Liquido, N. J. 1991.; Purcell, M. F.; Daniels, K. M.; Whitehand, L. C.; Messing, R. H. 1994.; Harris, E. J.; Okamoto, R. Y.; Lee, C. Y. L.; Nishida, T. 1991.; van den Bosch, R. 1952.; Huffaker, C. B.; F. J. Simmonds; and Laing, J. E. 1976.; Clausen, C. P. 1978.; Snowball, G. J. and Lukins, R. G. 1964.; Eitam, A. 1998.; Wang, S. G. and Messing R. H. 2002.; Vargas, R. I. and Ramadan, M. M. 2000.; Purcell, M. F.; Duan, J. J.; Messing, R. H. 1997.; Anonymous (Joint legislative committe on agriculture and livestock problems). 1953.; Wang, X. G. and Messing, R. H. 2004.; Wang, X. G.; Messing, R. H.; Bautista, R. C. 2003.; Wang, X. G.; Bokonon-Ganta, A. H.; Ramadan, M. M.; Messing R. H. 2004.; Ramadan, M. M. 2004.)

see Wharton and Gilstrap 1983.

Fopius vandenboschi is a common parasitoid of tephritid pests of starfruit, Averrhoa carambola, in Malaysia, where apparent inverse density-dependence has been documented (Chua 1993).

The influence of various fitness parameters on male mating success was examined by Ramadan et al. (1991) for this and other species that are routinely reared in Hawaii for tephritid biological control. Ramadan et al. (1995) also looked in detail at the reproductive biology of this species. Vargas et al. (2002) published useful studies on comparative demography of this and other species introduced to Hawaii. It was subsequently mass-reared for use in augmentative programs (Ramadan 2004).

A fair amount of additional literature is available on this species.

Fopius vandenboschi was successfully introduced to Hawaii during the biological control program against oriental fruit fly (Clausen et al. 1965).