02111nam a2200157 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000200006024501720008026001490025230000090040152014650041065000240187565000360189970000180193510129052019-11-05       1998    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aSA, L. A. N. de  aEvaluation and export of Pseudacteon decapitating flies (PhoridaebDiptera) collected in the Jaguariuna area for fire ant biocontrol in the USA.h[electronic resource]  aIn: SIMPÓSIO DE CONTROLE BIOLÓGICO, 6., 1998, Rio de Janeiro. Anais: sessões de pôsteres. Rio de Janeiro: FIOCRUZ/EMBRAPA, 1998. p.51.c1998  ap.51  aFire ant decapitating flies were studied in and around the Embrapa-National Research Center for Environmental Monitoring and Impact Assessment, in Jaguariuna, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The objective was to evaluate and select several species for exporting to the United States as biocontrol agents. Eight species were collected during this study (January-June, 1996): Pseudacteon convexicauda, P. curvatus, P. litoralis, P. obtusus, P. pradei, P. solenopsidis, P. tricuspis and P. wasmanni. Seven species (all except P. convexicauda) were reared from eggs to adults. All seven species had the unusual habit of pupating inside the head capsule of their host. No suitable morphological characters were found to discriminate pupae of the different species. Pupae of different sexes were also indistinguishable except that females consistently emerged from larger hosts than males. The males of P. tricuspis readily mated with females while they were ovipositing in fire ant workers, but it was not possible to determine when and were other species of decapitating flies mated. Consequently, it was only possible to develop techniques for rearing P. tricuspis. Two species (P.tricuspis and p. litoralis) were sufficiently abundant to be exported to the USDA-ARS from Brazilian Quarantine Laboratory for specificity testing. After a period in USDA quarantine facilities both species received permission to be released and tested under field conditions in the USA.  aControle Biológico  aInseto Para Controle Biológico1 aPORTER, S. D.