REARING OF PSEUDACTEON SPP (DIPT, PHORIDAE), PARASITOIDS OF FIRE ANTS(SOLENOPSIS SPP) (HYM, FORMICIDAE)

After exposure of Solenopsis saevissima colonies maintained in plastic trays to phorid attack in the field, and subsequent transfer of colon ies to covered plastic buckets, we confirmed that P. wasmanni and P. l itoralis are indeed parasitoids of fire ant workers. The period from a ttack to emergence of phorid adults ranged from 35 to 46 days. Adult p horids were maintained live in glass vials with sugar water as a food source for 5 days. These results indicate that Pseudaceton can be rear ed for biological control release programs with minimal difficulty. Fu rthermore, parasitized workers could be easily transferred from South America to quarantine laboratories within the egg to adult emergence t ime period.