Importance of Host Feeding in the Biological Control of Insect Pests: Case Study of Egg Parasitoid Species (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Trichogrammatidae)

Author:

Cabello Tomas1ORCID,Gallego Juan Ramón1ORCID,Lopez Inmaculada2ORCID,Gamez Manuel2ORCID,Garay Jozsef3

Affiliation:

1. Centre for Agribusiness Biotechnology Research, University of Almería, La Cañada de S. Urbano, s/n, ES-04120 Almería, Spain

2. Department of Mathematics, University of Almería, La Cañada de S. Urbano, s/n, ES-04120 Almería, Spain

3. HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Evolution, Konkoly-Thege Miklosut 29–33, H-1121 Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

Over recent decades, intraguild predation (IGP) has attracted special attention, both from the theoretical and practical standpoints. The present paper addresses the interference competition between two Trichogramma species (egg parasitoids)—on the one hand, the extrinsic interactions (i.e., the indirect competition between female T. achaeae and T. brassicae), and on the other, the intrinsic interactions between the larvae of both species. Furthermore, T. achaeae is a better competitor than T. brassicae due to a dual mechanism—the former acts as a facultative hyperparasitoid of the latter, exclusively considering parasitism relationships as well as presenting predation activity by host feeding, which gives preference to eggs previously parasitized by T. brassicae over non-parasitized eggs. Both mechanisms are dependent on the prey density, which is demonstrated by a change in the functional response (i.e., the relationship between the numbers of prey attacked at different prey densities) of T. achaeae adult female—it changes from type II (i.e., initial phase in which the number of attacked targets increases hyperbolically and then reaches an asymptote, reflecting the handling capacity of the predator), in the absence of competition (an instantaneous search rate of a′ = 9.996 ± 4.973 days−1 and a handling time of Th = 0.018 ± 0.001 days), to type I (i.e., linear increase in parasitism rate as host densities rise, until reaching a maximum parasitism rate, and an instantaneous search rate of a′ = 0.879 ± 0.072 days−1 and a handling time of Th ≈ 0) when interference competition is present. These results show that there is a greater mortality potential of this species, T. achaeae, in conditions of competition with other species, T. brassicae in this case. Based on this, their implications in relation to the biological control of pests by parasitoid species are discussed.

Funder

Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Science of the Andalusian Regional Government

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference71 articles.

1. Gunn, A., and Pitt, S.J. (2022). Parasitology: An Integrated Approach, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.. [2nd ed.].

2. Parasitoid guilds: Defining the structure of the parasitoid community of endopterygote insect hosts;Mills;Environ. Entomol.,1994

3. Foottit, R.G., and Adler, P.H. (2017). Parasitoid biodiversity and insect pest management. Insect Biodiversity, John Wiley & Sons. [2nd ed.].

4. Quicke, D.L.J. (1997). Parasitic Wasps, Chapman & Hall.

5. Intrinsic inter- and intraspecific competition in parasitoid wasps;Harvey;Annu. Rev. Entomol.,2013

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3