Searching behavior of an aphid parasitoid and its hyperparasitoid with and without floral nectar

Araj, Salah-Eddin; Wratten, Stephen D.; Lister, Alison; Buckley, Hannah L.; Ghabeish, Ihab

doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2010.11.015

Cited by 34 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…; Araj et al . ). This, along with limited disturbance by farming practices, might have contributed to sustaining and enhancing parasitoid populations both in complex and simple landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Several studies reported non-conventional tillage systems (conservation, reduced or no-tillage) to increase weed abundance and diversity (Soane et al 2012). Floral nectar resources have been shown to be an important component of the diet of adult parasitoids (Rusch et al 2010;Araj et al 2011). This, along with limited distur- bance by farming practices, might have contributed to sustaining and enhancing parasitoid populations both in complex and simple landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conservation tillage mitigates the negative effect of landscape simplification on biological control

Tamburini

Simone

Sigura

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

123

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Biological pest control is a key ecosystem service, and it depends on multiple factors acting from the local to the landscape scale. However, the effects of soil management on biological control and its potential interaction with landscape are still poorly understood. In a field exclusion experiment, we explored the relative effect of tillage system (conservation vs. conventional tillage) on aphid biological control in 15 pairs of winter cereal fields (barley and wheat) selected along a gradient of landscape complexity. We sampled the abundance of the main natural enemy guilds, and we evaluated their relative contribution to aphid predation and parasitism. Conservation tillage was found to support more abundant predator communities and higher aphid predation (16% higher than in the fields managed under conventional tillage). In particular, both the abundance and the aphid predation of vegetation- and ground-dwelling arthropods were increased under conservation tillage conditions. Conservation tillage also increased the parasitism rate of aphids. A high proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape enhanced both aphid parasitism and predation by vegetation-dwelling organisms but only in the fields managed under conventional tillage. The better local habitat quality provided by conservation tillage may compensate for a low-quality landscape. Synthesis and applications. Our study stresses the importance of considering both soil management and landscape composition when planning strategies to maximize biological control services in agro-ecosystems, highlighting the role played by conservation tillage in supporting natural enemy communities. In simple landscapes, the adoption of conservation tillage will locally improve biological control provided by both predators and parasitoids mitigating the negative effects of landscape simplification. Moreover, considering the small scale at which both predation and parasitism responded to landscape composition, a successful strategy to improve biological control would be to establish a fine mosaic of crop and non-crop areas such as hedgerows, tree lines and small semi-natural habitat patches. © 2016 British Ecological Society

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation tillage mitigates the negative effect of landscape simplification on biological control

Tamburini

Simone

Sigura

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

123

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“…Previous observations and published studies (Wang and Keller ; Araj et al. ) were revised to choose relevant behavioral traits of the parasitoid females. The following behaviors were considered for analyses: Sting, the insertion of the female ovipositor into the host's body, characterized by the curving of the abdomen in a forward position between the third pair of legs; Attack, similar to sting but with no successful insertion of the ovipositor into host's body; Walking, a persistent walking movement all over the experimental arena. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive evolution of a generalist parasitoid: implications for the effectiveness of biological control agents

Zepeda-Paulo

Ortiz-Martínez

Figueroa

et al. 2013

Evolutionary Applications

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The use of alternative hosts imposes divergent selection pressures on parasitoid populations. In response to selective pressures, these populations may follow different evolutionary trajectories. Divergent natural selection could promote local host adaptation in populations, translating into direct benefits for biological control, thereby increasing their effectiveness on the target host. Alternatively, adaptive phenotypic plasticity could be favored over local adaptation in temporal and spatially heterogeneous environments. We investigated the existence of local host adaptation in Aphidius ervi, an important biological control agent, by examining different traits related to infectivity (preference) and virulence (a proxy of parasitoid fitness) on different aphid-host species. The results showed significant differences in parasitoid infectivity on their natal host compared with the non-natal hosts. However, parasitoids showed a similar high fitness on both natal and non-natal hosts, thus supporting a lack of host adaptation in these introduced parasitoid populations. Our results highlight the role of phenotypic plasticity in fitness-related traits of parasitoids, enabling them to maximize fitness on alternative hosts. This could be used to increase the effectiveness of biological control. In addition, A. ervi females showed significant differences in infectivity and virulence across the tested host range, thus suggesting a possible host phylogeny effect for those traits.

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“…Buckwheat a commonly used nectar and pollen source was found to increase hyperparasitisation of a parasitoid (Araj et al 2008 ) and a predator (Jacometti et al 2010 ) . It was observed that nectar of buckwheat increased the searching effi ciency of both the third and fourth trophic parasitioids (Araj et al 2011 ) . In such cases the summative effect of third and fourth trophic level on pest suppression should be analysed.…”

Section: Provision Of Refugesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Biological Control, Functional Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Insect Pest Management

Chitra

Katti

Padmakumari

et al. 2011

Crop Stress and Its Management: Perspectives and Strategies

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Biological control has come a long way and has been adapting to the changing needs of agricultural pest suppression. Changes in crop management practices, transgenic crops and new pesticide molecules have a profound effect on the natural pest suppression. Biocontrol like any other control technique is not without associated risks and cannot be considered as a panacea for maintaining environmental health. In order to sustain biological control there is a need to study the ecology of crop systems as a whole and design strategies based on the positive and negative interactions. Benefi ts of biodiversity are contextual and are diluted by trophic interactions which may be positive, negative or neutral. Habitat management strategies are used for enhancing the positive effects of biodiversity on pest suppression and are the basis of conservation biological control. Here we attempt to give an overview of the status of classical and introductory biological control programmes worldwide, risks that need to be addressed and the various principles of the emerging fi eld of conservation biological control which aims at harnessing the in situ biodiversity of crop ecosystems.

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Searching behavior of an aphid parasitoid and its hyperparasitoid with and without floral nectar

Cited by 34 publications

References 37 publications

Conservation tillage mitigates the negative effect of landscape simplification on biological control

Conservation tillage mitigates the negative effect of landscape simplification on biological control

Adaptive evolution of a generalist parasitoid: implications for the effectiveness of biological control agents

Biological Control, Functional Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Insect Pest Management

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