D3200: Comparison of flasks and mass rear containers for the production of Leptopilina japonica on Drosophila suzukii

Since its first detection in the United States in 2008, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera, Drosophilidae), an invasive vinegar fly has caused massive damage to fruit crops. The main method of protecting berry crops from this pest has been pesticide applications, however, with increasing pesticide resistance and consumer preferences to more natural pest control methods, biological control of D. suzukii has become a promising alternative. Biological control utilizing parasitoid wasps has been successfully used to suppress the populations of many invasive insects in the past. Although not initially considered for biocontrol programs, Leptopilina japonica (Hymenoptera, Figitidae), an effective larval parasitoid that co-evolved with D. suzukii, has now been detected in many regions of the United States. As strategic releases of this species in the states they are found in become a reality, lab rearing these wasps in large numbers efficiently becomes an important factor. The standard method for rearing L. japonica on an agar, yeast, cornmeal, and sugar diet after being infested by D. suzukii, has been in vials, with some transitioning to flasks for higher production. However, rearing these wasps more quickly and in even larger numbers for the purpose of releasing could be done with larger containers for mass rearing, after evaluating its productivity and time invested with the flask method.