Fruit flies reared from Terminalia catappa in Thailand

Bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are pests of cultivated plants worldwide. Many Bactrocera flies are specific to commercial vegetable and fruit crops but some may develop in alternate hosts. One such alternate host is malabar or Indian almond, Terminalia catappa L. (Combretaceae) in Thailand. We studied a wild mature tree that was at least 20 years old and growing in a protected environment of Kasetsart University Kamphaeng Saen campus in 2008. We found that fruit flies and their associated parasitoids were recovered only from ripening (yellow colored) malabar almond fruits. Four species of fruit flies were recorded: Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), B. correcta (Bezzi), B. latifrons (Hendel) and B. cucurbitae (Coquillett). Of the four species of parasitoids recorded; the braconid Fopius arisanus (Sonan) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was most commonly recovered.