This is one of the largest families in the Chalcidoidea. Several genera of pteromalids have been reared from fly puparia, including tephritids, but relatively few from fruit-infesting tephritids. The most commonly encountered pteromalids reared from fruit-infesting tephritids are
Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Rondani) (Figures 1-3) and various species of
Spalangia (Figures 4 & 5). These are polyphagous pupal parasitoids, and usually gregarious when attacking tephritids.
Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae, though often mass-reared for release against tephritid pests, is more likely to attack other hosts, such as drosophilids.
P. vindemmiae was introduced in Bolivia in 1969 for control of
Ceratitis capitata (
Bennett and Squire 1972).
The species name for Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Figures 1-3) is often incorrectly spelled vindemiae because of confusion on the part of Rondani in a subsequent publication.
Other pteromalids that are known to attack fruit-infesting tephritids (e. g. Hoffmeister 1990) include at least one species each in the genera Halticoptera, Cyrtogaster, and Pteromalus. Halticoptera is a koinobiont larval parasitoid, Cyrtogaster is an idiobiont pupal parasitoid, and Pteromalus is an idiobiont larval parasitoid. See also the genus page on Cyrtoptyx.