Association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the vine mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in table‐grape vineyards in Eastern Spain

Abstract

Our results suggest that the ant species native to vineyards in eastern Spain induce population increases of the vine mealybug. Moreover, the provisioning of sugars can be a valuable tool for ant management and mealybug control. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

New Tools for Conservation Biological Control: Testing Ant-Attracting Artificial Nectaries to Employ Ants as Plant Defenders

“…The latter method may allow the positive effects of ant presence (see [12]). Nevertheless, other studies have found that the presence of ants in citrus and vine groves was weakly related or not related at all to the presence of sap feeders [21,65]. In addition, some natural predators of aphids and coccids may even increase under ant presence in vineyards [51].…”

“…Some plants produce nectars, other food rewards or offer shelter to ants in exchange for protection against herbivory, competing plants or even pathogens [13][14][15][16][17]. These rewards may also be aimed at distracting ants from tending sap feeders [18][19][20][21]. Several cases of these ant-plant mutualisms are mediated by extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), which have been described for 4017 plant species of over 450 evolutionary lineages (21% of vascular plant families), and are expected to be found in about 8000 species [22,23].…”

“…For example, in vineyards and citrus orchards, a number of studies have shown that ant presence increases populations of mutualistic aphids and coccids and decreases those of some of their natural enemies (e.g., [50][51][52][53][54][55][56]). As a result, additional research has focused on the control of ant populations in these agroecosystems, either by employing chemical substances (e.g., [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]) or distracting tending ants by providing sugary substances (e.g., [21]). The latter method may allow the positive effects of ant presence (see [12]).…”

“…Inspired by EFNs, ANs are manipulative tools designed to increase ant activity on trees by dispensing a liquid made of water and sugar to attract ants. Although a few studies have already tested the use of ANs or other food sources to attain agroecological benefits (e.g., [20,21,[97][98][99][100]), none of them have studied ant effectiveness in defending plants, focusing instead on distracting ants from mutualistic sap feeders. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate both the functionality of ANs and the impact of different levels of ant activity on arboreal arthropodofauna, plant health and fruit production.…”

Identification of Vitis Cultivars, Rootstocks, and Species Expressing Resistance to a Planococcus Mealybug

“…Most successful biological control programs rely primarily on encrytid parasitoids [30], such as Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault), a parasitoid of P. ficus and other related mealybugs [26,29,[31][32][33]. Even in organic vineyards, natural enemies may not provide complete control-ants have been shown to disrupt mealybug biological control in vineyards [33][34][35][36] and P. ficus can find refuge from some natural enemy species under the vines bark [37]. Some mealybug species can also overwinter on the roots of grapevines, and rootstocks with resistance to mealybug would be a valuable tool as part of IPM.…”