Fopius vandenboschi (Fullaway, 1952)

Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Biosteres javanus Fullaway, 1920. (not Opius javanus Szepligeti, 1908).
Opius vandenboschi Fullaway, 1952 (new name for javanus Fullaway, preoccupied in Opius by javanus Szepligeti).
Biosteres vandenboschi (Fullaway): Fischer (1971).

This species has previously been placed in both Opius and Biosteres. Biosteres javanus Fullaway, 1920 is a synonym.

Remarks
See comments under the Fopius persulcatus species group on the Fopius page.
Diagnosis and Relationships
markup
There are a series of color morphs that occur in Southeast Asia, and additional study is need to determine whether they all represent a single species.
Description
markup
Striate sculpture on the second metasomal tergum and frons densely covered with large punctures are characteristics of this and other members of the Fopius persulcatus species group.
2032_mximage
1. Fopius vandenboschi habitus (dark): latera... ↴
2033_mximage
2. Fopius vandenboschi habitus (light):... ↴
 
Distribution
see Wharton and Gilstrap 1983. This species was originally described from material collected in Buitenzorg, Java, reared from Bactrocera infesting Capsicum.
Distribution
No referenced distribution records have been added to the database for this OTU.
Biology / Hosts
see Wharton and Gilstrap 1983. Hosts are primarily dacines, but there is also a record from Carpomyia (Singh 1989).
Biology and Behavior
F. vandenboschi is a common parasitoid of tephritid pests of starfruit, Averrhoa carambola, in Malaysia, where apparent inverse density-dependence has been documented (Chua 1993).

Ramadan et al. (1991)

examined the influence of various fitness parameters on male mating success in this and other species that are routinely reared in Hawaii for tephritid biological control. Ramadan et al. (1995) also looked in detail at the reproductive biology of this species. Vargas et al. (2002) published useful studies on comparative demography of this and other species introduced to Hawaii.

A fair amount of additional literature is available on this species.

Biological Control
It was successfully introduced to Hawaii during the biological control program against oriental fruit fly (Clausen et al. 1965). It was subsequently mass-reared for use in augmentative programs (Ramadan (2004).
Map

There are no specimens currently determined for this OTU, or those specimens determined for this OTU are not yet mappable.