Molecular Identification and Evaluation of Orius species (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) as Biological Control Agents

Abstract

Orius strigicollis is a predatory bug that attacks small arthropods, such as thrips, and augmentative release of commercial strains has been widely conducted in greenhouses in Japan. The accurate evaluation of its effectiveness is essential for successful biological control programs. However, because Orius species occur naturally in the field, it is difficult to discriminate O. strigicollis from other Orius species. Furthermore, it is necessary to discriminate commercial strains of O. strigicollis from field populations. In this review, we introduce two types of molecular procedures: (1) a multiplex polymerase chain reaction technique to identify Japanese Orius species, and (2) microsatellite DNA markers that can be used to measure genetic diversity within populations of O. strigicollis and to discriminate field and commercial strains. The usefulness of molecular ecological approaches is also discussed.

The mating systems of three species of minute pirate bug, Orius sauteri, O. minutus, and O. strigicollis

“…Three of these species -O. sauteri, O. minutus, and O. strigicollisdisplay good potential as biological control agents (Ohno & Takemoto, 1997). A previous investigation of the distribution of these three indigenous species in Japan revealed that two or all three species often coexisted on the same plants (Hinomoto et al, 2009). In addition to their similar habitat, the three species' prey preference, body size, and appearance are very similar.…”

“…On mainland Japan, O. sauteri , Orius minutus (L.), O. strigicollis , and O. nagaii are commonly distributed in a wide area across Japan (Yasunaga, ,b,c). These species often occur sympatrically on various flowering plants (Ohno & Takemoto, ; Hinomoto et al., ) and have similar prey, including thrips, aphids, and hatchlings and larvae of various insects. Three of these species – O. sauteri , O. minutus , and O. strigicollis – display good potential as biological control agents (Ohno & Takemoto, ).…”

Development of microsatellite markers for the minute pirate bug Orius sauteri (Poppius), and their cross-species amplification in O. minutus (L.) and O. strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae)

“…Although they are usually released in greenhouses, O. strigicollis often escape because the greenhouses are not completely sealed. Nagamori and Hinomoto (2004) and Hinomoto et al (2009) showed that O. strigicollis collected on weeds near greenhouses in which a commercial strain was released were genetically identical to the released strain, proving that the released O. strigicollis escaped from the greenhouses. The use of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers Muraji et al, 2004) might detect possible interbreeding between them.…”

“…On the other hand, the distribution of O. strigicollis (Poppius) is limited to coastal areas of southwestern Japan (Hinomoto et al, 2009). It is thought, however, that its range has expanded northward .…”

Distribution Patterns of Wolbachia Endosymbionts in the Closely Related Flower Bugs of the Genus Orius: Implications for Coevolution and Horizontal Transfer

“…On the other hand, O. tantillus and O. atratus are only found in Okinawa Island, and O. miyamotoi is only found in restricted areas of northern and western Kyushu. The four species of the subgenus Heterorius often occur sympatrically on various flowering plants, such as Trifolium repens and Solidago altissima [14,19,28,50] and have similar food prey, including thrips, aphids, and hatchlings and larvae of various insects. Recently, O. strigicollis, a species commercially used as a biological control agent [46], was found to be infected with at least two Wolbachia strains, wOus1 and wOus2, based on PCR and sequencing analyses using wsp gene primers [39].…”