Pinheiro, Lara A.Pereira, José AlbertoMedina, PilarSantos, Sónia A.P.2021-01-282021-01-282018Pinheiro, L.A., Pereira, J.A., Medina, P., Santos, S.A.P. 2018. Survival of Psyttalia concolor: Do flowers make the difference? In J.A. Pereira, N. Rodrigues (eds), Livro de Resumos VII Simpósio Nacional de olivicultura, APH, Santarém, 7 - 9 junho.978-972-8936-29-7http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/34975In sustainable olive groves, the biological control of the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) should be achieved by maximizing the action of its natural enemies. In this work, we are focused on Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a synovigenic koinobiont larval-pupal endoparasitoid of many Tephritidae that has been released in several Mediterranean and Californian (USA) olive-groves against B. oleae reaching different levels of success. In this context, the diversification of non-crop plants within and around olives groves is an effective strategy to support the population of this parasitoid. Plants provide nutritional supplements (pollen and/or nectar) for maintenance, survival and egg maturation but also shelter and alternative hosts. In this study, ten flowering non-crop plants that naturally occur in olive groves, distributed throughout six different families: Apiaceae (Daucus carota L. and Foeniculum vulgare L.); Asteraceae (Bellis perennis L.; Calendula arvensis L.; Crepis vesicaria L.; Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter); Brassicaceae (Brassica barrelieri (L.) Janka); Geraniaceae (Geranium molle L.) Malvaceae (Malva sylvestris L.) and Plantaginaceae (Veronica persica Poir) were tested in order to identify flowers with capacity to increase survival of P. concolor. Parasitoids exposed to flowers increased their survival to, on average, three to five days, except for M. sylvestris, V. persica and F. vulgare that significantly increased longevity of females and males of P.concolor. Interestingly, for males, all Asteraceae species tested improved their longevity, when compared to females. These findings suggest that species such as M. sylvestris could be a suitable species for establishing in olive groves.engBiological controlNon-crop plantsParasitoidBactrocera oleaeOlive grovebook part