Interaction between temperature and water nutrient levels on the fitness of Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Hemiptera: Miridae), a biological control agent of water hyacinth

Ismail, Mohannad; Compton, Stephen G.; Brooks, Margot

doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2017.01.001

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The first, the Kubusi River near Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape Province (32°35 0 33.25″S, 27°25 0 19.38″E), is one of the coldest sites where the agent has established in South Africa, and the second was the Enseleni River near Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal Province (28°41 0 26.60″S, 32°00 0 48.69″E), which is one of the warmest (Figure 1). The sex ratio of E. catarinensis has been shown to be almost exactly 1:1 in previous studies at a variety of temperatures, so a 1:1 sex ratio can be assumed in all experiments (Ismail et al, 2017). The field-collected insects were then transported directly to the laboratory and immediately subjected to thermal physiology studies.…”

Section: Field Collection Of Eccritotarsus Catarinensismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Male and female E. catarinensis were pooled for the purposes of all experiments as the sexes are very similar in size (Henry, 2017) and are therefore likely to have similar responses to the thermal environment (Kovac & Stabentheiner, 2012). The sex ratio of E. catarinensis has been shown to be almost exactly 1:1 in previous studies at a variety of temperatures, so a 1:1 sex ratio can be assumed in all experiments (Ismail et al, 2017).…”

Section: Field Collection Of Eccritotarsus Catarinensismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal plasticity and microevolution enhance establishment success and persistence of a water hyacinth biological control agent

Griffith

Paterson

Owen

et al. 2019

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Aspects of the thermal physiology of the water hyacinth biological control agent Eccritotarsus catarinensis Carvalho (Hemiptera: Miridae) have been extensively investigated over the past 20 years to understand and improve post-release establishment in the field. Thermal physiology studies predicted that the agent would not establish at a number of cold sites in South Africa, where it has nonetheless subsequently established and thrived. Recently, studies have begun to incorporate the plastic nature of insect thermal physiology into models of agent establishment. This study determined whether season and locality influenced the thermal physiology of two field populations of E. catarinensis, one collected from the hottest site where the agent has established in South Africa, and one from the coldest site. The thermal physiology of E. catarinensis was significantly influenced by season and site, demonstrating a degree of phenotypic plasticity, and that some post-release local adaptation to climatic conditions has occurred through microevolution. We then determined whether cold acclimation under laboratory conditions was possible. Successfully cold-acclimated E. catarinensis had a significantly lower critical thermal minimum (CT min ) compared to the field cold-acclimated population. This suggests that cold acclimation of agents could be conducted in the laboratory before future releases to improve their cold tolerance, thereby increasing their chance of establishment at cold sites and allowing further adaptation to colder climates to occur in the field. Although the thermal tolerance of E. catarinensis is limited by local adaptations to climatic conditions in the native range, the plastic nature of the insect's thermal physiology has allowed it to survive in the very different climatic conditions of the introduced range, and there has been some adaptive change to the insect's thermal tolerance since establishment. This study highlights the importance of plasticity and microevolutionary processes in the success of biological control agents under the novel climatic conditions in the introduced range.

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Section: Field Collection Of Eccritotarsus Catarinensismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Field Collection Of Eccritotarsus Catarinensismentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal plasticity and microevolution enhance establishment success and persistence of a water hyacinth biological control agent

Griffith

Paterson

Owen

et al. 2019

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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“…Two morphological and two physiological traits and one index were determined for the insects studied. filled with 50 L of tap water adjusted to three nitrogen concentration levels, as described in Ismail et al (2017). There were 6 tubs of oligotrophic (low quality, tap water only), mesotrophic (medium quality: 1.5 mg/L), and eutrophic (high quality: 6.25 mg/L) waters, based on nitrogen concentrations (Reddy et al, 1989).…”

Section: Materials S and Me Thodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plants that were grown under medium nutrient levels had smaller leaves just starting to yellow, and were considered to be mesotrophic. Oligotrophic conditions produced plants of poor quality with small, yellow leaves ( Figure 1) (Ismail et al, 2017).…”

Section: Plant Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in the environment, several factors interact together to affect the development of organisms (Sulmon et al, 2015). For example the availability, as well as the quality, of food are considered to be determinant for several biological parameters of insects (Awmack & Leather, 2002;Ismail et al, 2017;Nylin & Gotthard, 1998), including adult body size (Blanckenhorn, 1998;Bownes et al, 2013). Bownes et al (2013) showed by measuring body mass that body size of the grasshopper Cornops aquaticum (Orthoptera: Acrididae) was bigger when fed on Eichhornia crassipes (Pontederiaceae) plants of higher quality, but did not investigate the effect of temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Synergistic effects of temperature and plant quality, on development time, size and lipid in Eccritotarsus eichhorniae

Ismail

Brooks

Baaren

et al. 2020

J Applied Entomology

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Body size is an important biotic factor in evolutionary ecology, since it affects all aspects of insect physiology, life history and, consequently, fitness in ectothermic insects and how species adapt with their environment. It has been linked to temperature, with lower temperatures resulting in larger size. In this study, we tested How to cite this article: Ismail M, Brooks M, van Baaren J, Albittar L. Synergistic effects of temperature and plant quality, on development time, size and lipid in Eccritotarsus eichhorniae.

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Ecology and biology of the parasitoid Trechnites insidiosus and its potential for biological control of pear psyllids

Tougeron

Iltis

Renoz

et al. 2021

Pest Management Science

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Pear cultivation accounts for a large proportion of worldwide orchards, but its sustainability is controversial because it relies on intensive use of pesticides. It is therefore crucial and timely to find alternative methods to chemical control in pear orchards. The psyllids Cacopsylla pyri and Cacopsylla pyricola are the most important pests of pear trees in Europe and North America, respectively, because they infest all commercial varieties, causing damage directly through sap consumption or indirectly through the spread of diseases. A set of natural enemies exists, ranging from generalist predators to specialist parasitoids. Trechnites insidiosus (Crawford) is undoubtedly the most abundant specialist parasitoid of psyllids. In our literature review, we highlight the potential of this encyrtid species as a biological control agent of psyllid pests by first reviewing its biology and ecology, and then considering its potential at regulating psyllids. We show that the parasitoid can express fairly high parasitism rates in orchards, and almost perfectly matches the phenology of its host and is present early in the host infestation season, which is an advantage for controlling immature stages of psyllids. We propose new research directions and innovative approaches that would improve the use of T. insidiosus in integrated pest management strategies in the future, regarding both augmentative and conservation biocontrol. We conclude that T. insidiosus has many advantages and should be included as part of integrated biological control strategies of pear psyllids, along with predators, in‐field habitat conservation, and the rational use of compatible chemicals. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

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Interaction between temperature and water nutrient levels on the fitness of Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Hemiptera: Miridae), a biological control agent of water hyacinth

Cited by 14 publications

References 48 publications

Thermal plasticity and microevolution enhance establishment success and persistence of a water hyacinth biological control agent

Thermal plasticity and microevolution enhance establishment success and persistence of a water hyacinth biological control agent

Synergistic effects of temperature and plant quality, on development time, size and lipid in Eccritotarsus eichhorniae

Ecology and biology of the parasitoid Trechnites insidiosus and its potential for biological control of pear psyllids

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