Natural History Characterization and Biological Observations of Neobrachelia edessae (Diptera: Tachinidae), an Antagonist Fly of the Stink Bug Pest Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Natural enemies are a good alternative for pest control. To enhance their role as biocontrol agents, understanding their biology and ecology is necessary. Pentatomid hemipterans are pests of important crops, and tachinids are natural enemies of their adult stage. Neobrachelia edessae (Diptera: Tachinidae) is a Neotropical parasitoid fly of the stink bug Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), with practically unknown biology. We evaluated the life history of this parasitoid when developing on adults of E. meditabunda, and described the morphology of larval instars. Differences in developmental times and longevity were evaluated considering the number of parasitoid larvae per host, sex of the parasitized host and sex of the fly offspring. Egg to pupa development time was affected by the number of larvae developing within the host. On average, 27 days were needed to complete larval development if there was a single larva per host, whereas 30 days on average were needed when more than one larva developed within a host. Pupa to adult development time was on average 19 days, and average adult longevity was 11 days. Developmental time and longevity of parasitoid offspring were not affected by either host sex or parasitoid sex. Given that biological information for this species is scarce, as is the case for most tachinid species, these results are relevant for the design of biological control programs in the future.