Host specificity of Asian parasitoids for potential classical biological control of .

The Asian spotted wing drosophila, has recently become a serious pest of soft fruits in Europe. Classical biological control through the introduction of larval parasitoids from its native range in Asia is presently being considered. However, host specificity of potential biological control agents has to be determined to avoid releasing species that may have unintended non-target impacts. Larvae of six different European non-target fly species and the target were exposed either on diet or blueberries to three Asian larval parasitoids, , and cf. , and one European species, . showed the lowest specificity, attacking and developing in all Drosophilidae. successfully parasitized two non-target Drosophilidae, and , with one singly progeny emerging from . cf. had the highest level of specificity but variations occurred between two geographical populations tested. A Japanese population was strictly specific to whereas another population from China parasitized , and sporadically . The European successfully developed in , and occasionally in , but nearly all eggs and larvae in were encapsulated. These results show that cf. is the species with the highest potential for biological control, but more studies are needed on its taxonomic status and the existence of biotypes or cryptic species varying in their specificity before field releases can be conducted in Europe.