Effects of aphid honeydew sugars on the longevity and fecundity of the aphidophagous gall midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza

Abstract

Predatory gall midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza, which is used for augmentative biological control of aphids in greenhouses, take aphid honeydew as an energy source to survive. Currently Rhopalosiphum padi on barley plants and Melanaphis sacchari on sorghum plants are used as the banker plant systems for A. aphidimyza to control A. gossypii on eggplants in Japan. We analyzed the sugar components of three species aphid honeydew by HPLC. The major components of honeydew were sucrose, fructose and melezitose for A. gossypii, glucose and fructose for R. padi and glucose, fructose and melezitose for M sacchari. Two minor components for these three aphid species were maltose and trehalose. We investigated the influence of sugars including three aphid artificial honeydew, six sugar components of three species aphid honeydew and water on the longevity of unmated females and males of A. aphidimyza. Both females and males attained the longest lifespan on sucrose and artificial honeydew of A. gossypii. Mean longevities of both females and males were shortest when they were provided with only water. We conducted another experiment where a mated female was released in a cage with an eggplant seedling infested with A. gossypii and was fed with sucrose or only water. Number of eggs laid and survival of the female was examined every day. Females fed with sucrose lived significantly longer and laid more eggs in their lifetime than those with only water.

Attraction of Aphidius ervi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Aphidoletes aphidimyza (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) to Sweet Alyssum and Assessment of Plant Resources Effects on their Fitness

“…Our experiments show that in the absence of aphids, a sugar-rich diet benefited A. aphidimyza female longevity and egg load, similarly to what has been observed by Watanabe et al (2014). On the contrary, the presence of alyssum flowers did not enhance the survival or the number of mature oocytes of A. aphidimyza females, probably because nectar was not accessible for them, as was confirmed when alyssum flowers with exposed nectaries were offered.…”

“…Instead of 250 mL plastic cups, glass cups were used. A 10% G + F + S solution was provided as sugar-rich diet according to the findings of Watanabe et al (2014). Mortality was checked daily.…”

Optimizing aphid biocontrol with the predator Aphidoletes aphidimyza, based on biology and ecology

“…13 Access of adult females to honeydew (or honeydew sugars) has also been reported to impact fecundity by either prolonging the adult lifespan or triggering oviposition. 63 The lifespan of female A. aphidimyza increased from 3 days when provided with access to water only, to 16 days with access to M. persicae honeydew. 32 As a result, lifetime fecundity was increased more than 50% when honeydew was supplied.…”

A sticky situation: honeydew of the pear psylla disrupts feeding by its predator Orius sauteri

“…Nineteen sugars and sugar alcohols (inositol, sorbitol, 2-Deoxy-D-ribose, trehalose, glucose, sucrose, fructose, D-(−)ribose, D-(+)melezitose, stachyose, lactose, raffinose, L-(+)-Arabinose, glacactose, melibiose, mannitol, L-rhamnose, D-(+)-turanose, and maltose) of known concentrations were injected before the analysis of the samples for sugar identification and quantification. [45][46][47] Stachyose and lactose were purchased from the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Beijing, China), while the other 17 sugars and sugar alcohols were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Shanghai, China). Three replicates were determined for the sugar constitution of honeydew.…”