Predicting parasitoid accumulation in biological control agents of the invasive weed Brazilian pepper

Classical biological control agents are screened during quarantine to eliminate natural enemies that might have attacked the insects when collected in their native range. This is thought to release these insects from the biotic constraints of natural enemies and assist them to realize more fully their biotic potential in the introduced range. However, after release, the effect of some agents can be compromised by the accumulation of natural enemies in the weed's introduced range. Estimates of agent susceptibility to natural enemies, are rarely assessed prior to release. Pre-release assessments of the susceptibility of weed biological control agents to natural enemies should be considered when prioritizing candidate agents. Knowledge of parasitism rates of candidate biological control agents in their native range and parasitism of surrogate species in the introduced range could be useful indicators of their susceptibility to attack. Determination of the degree of parasite attack of these ecological analogs provides an indication of their susceptibility that can assist in agent selection. We conducted research to identify a suite of resident natural enemies that attack ecological analogues that feed on the weed Brazilian peppertree in Florida. Moreover, we collected potential biological control agents in their native range to assess the species richness in their area of origin.  The results suggest that agent selection can be assisted by this information as some potential agents are attacked by a rich fauna of natural enemies while others are not.