The role of physical cues in the regulation of host recognition and acceptance behavior ofAphidius ervi Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

The role of color and shape in the host recognition and acceptance behavior ofAphidius ervi Haliday was studied. A quantitative analysis of the oviposition behavior ofA. ervi was carried out with a computer-aided analysis of 150 video-recorded oviposition sequences on its natural host,Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). The importance of visual stimuli was assessed in a choice condition bioassay, observing the behavioral reaction of female parasitoids to various test materials flame-sealed into glass capillaries. Glass beads 2 and 6 mm in diameter and a flat arena were coated with cornicle secretion ofA. pisum, and their acceptance rates by both naive and experienced female parasitoids were assessed under no-choice conditions. In most cases,A. ervi females switched from random searching to attack position when the host was within a range of 1 cm, suggesting that host recognition is regulated in part by cues acting before physical contact. The glass capillary bioassay indicated that visual cues are important factors in the host recognition and acceptance phases. Pea aphid color alone can elicit the oviposition response of naiveA. ervi females, and this response is enhanced when color is combined with aphid shape. The cornicle secretion ofA. pisum stimulated an oviposition response which was stronger in naive females ofA. ervi than in experienced ones and was not significantly affected by the glass bead size or flat surface. These results, along with those from previous studies, suggest that manipulation of the oviposition behavior ofA. ervi is feasible under laboratory conditions.     

Haematological observations on a hibernating tuatara,Sphenodon punctatus

Abstract

Quantitative and biochemical observations were made on the peripheral blood of a hibernating female tuatara. The packed red cell volume (haematocrit) was 30%. There were about 260 000 erythrocytes and 5000 leucocytes per mm³ blood. Lymphocytes and neutrophils were the predominant leucocytes, followed by monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. Haemoglobin, plasma protein, glucose, sodium, potassium, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were determined. These haematological data are compared with data from the same animal obtained during the active summer period.     

Winter host exploitation influences fitness traits in a parasitoid

Organisms can either evade winter's unfavourable conditions by migrating or diapausing, or endure them and maintain their activities. When it comes to foraging during winter, a period of scarce resources, there is strong selective pressure on resource exploitation strategy. Generalist parasitoids are particularly affected by this environmental constraint, as their fitness is deeply linked to the profitability of the available hosts. In this study, we considered a cereal aphid–parasitoid system and investigated (1) the host–parasitoid community structure, host availability, and parasitism rate in winter, (2) the influence of host quality in terms of species and instars on the fitness of the aphid parasitoid Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani‐Perez (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), and (3) whether there is a detectable impact of host fidelity on parasitism success of this parasitoid species. Host density was low during winter and the aphid community consisted of the species Rhopalosiphum padi L. and Sitobion avenae Fabricius (both Hemiptera: Aphididae), both parasitized by A. rhopalosiphi at non‐negligible rates. Aphidius rhopalosiphi produced more offspring when parasitizing R. padi compared with S. avenae, whereas bigger offspring were produced when parasitizing S. avenae. Although aphid adults and old larvae were significantly larger hosts than young larvae, the latter resulted in higher emergence rates and larger parasitoids. No impact of host fidelity on emergence rates or offspring size was detected. This study provides some evidence that winter A. rhopalosiphi populations are able to take advantage of an array of host types that vary in profitability, indicating that host selectivity may drop under winter's unfavourable conditions.     

Biology of Lysiphlebus fabarum following cold storage of larvae and pupae

Cold storage is one means of preserving parasitoids prior to release in augmentation biological control programs. This study examined the feasibility of storing larval and pupal stages of a sexual population of Lysiphlebus fabarum Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) at 6 ± 1 and 8 ± 1 °C, 50–60% r.h., and L14:D10 photoperiod. These life stages were stored for periods of 1, 2, and 3 weeks under fluctuating thermal regimes (2 h daily at 21 ± 1 °C). Generally, pupae gave better results than larvae, and 6 °C was better than 8 °C, considering wasp survival, wasp size (tibial and antennal lengths), egg load, and egg size. The best results were obtained with pupae stored for 2 weeks under a fluctuating temperature regime at 6 °C. Females emerging from this treatment did not differ from controls (developing directly at 21 °C) in body size, egg size, or progeny sex ratio, and suffered less than 20% mortality. Egg loads were reduced in these wasps, but the reductions were substantially less than occurred in other 2‐week‐storage treatments. Wasps stored in this manner successfully parasitized similar numbers of aphids as controls and produced similar progeny sex ratios. These results reveal a suitable set of low‐temperature conditions that can be used to delay the development of L. fabarum for 2 weeks with minimal impact on wasp fitness.     

Large‐scale migration synchrony between parasitoids and their host

1. Parasitoids are a valuable group for conservation biological control. In their role as regulators of aphid pests, it is critical that their lifecycle is synchronised with their hosts in both space and time. This is because a synchronised parasitoid community is more likely to strengthen the overall conservation biological control effect, thus damping aphid numbers and preventing potential outbreaks. One component of this host–parasitoid system was examined, that of migration, and the hypothesis that peak summer parasitoid and host migrations are synchronised in time was tested. 2. Sitobion avenae Fabricius and six associated parasitoids were sampled from 1976 to 2013 using 12.2‐m suction‐traps from two sites in Southern England. The relationship between peak weekly S. avenae counts and their parasitoids was quantified. 3. Simple regression models showed that the response of the peak parasitoids to the host was positive: generally, more parasitoids migrated with increasing numbers of aphids. Further, when averaged over time, the parasitoid migration peak date corresponded with the aphid migration peak. The co‐occurrence of the peaks was between 51% and 64%. However, the summer peak in aphid migration is not steadily shifting forward with time unlike spring first flights of aphids. Cross‐correlation analysis showed that there were no between‐year lagged effects of aphids on parasitoids. 4. These results demonstrate that the peak in migration phenology between host and parasitoid is broadly synchronised within a season. Because the threshold temperature for flight (> 12 °C) was almost always exceeded in summer, the synchronising agent is likely to be crop senescence, not temperature. Studies are needed to assess the effects of climate change on the mismatch potential between parasitoids and their hosts.     

Parasitoid spectrum (Hymenoptera: Braconidae; Aphelinidae) of the soybean aphid Aphis glycines (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Japan and Indonesia (Java and Bali)

Aphidiine and aphelinid parasitoids collected from the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, on Glycine max in Japan and Indonesia (Java and Bali) were identified to clarify the parasitoid spectrum of the aphid there. Nine parasitoid species from Japan (Aphidiinae: Aphidius gifuensis, Aphidius sp., Binodoxys communis, Diaeretiella rapae, Lipolexis gracilis, Lysiphlebia japonica; Aphelinidae: Aphelinus asychis, A. gossypii, A. varipes) and two parasitoid species from Indonesia (B. communis, A. gossypii) were found to be associated with A. glycines.     

In-field production of parasitoids of Dysaphis plantaginea by using the rowan aphid Dysaphis sorbi as substitute host

A system was developed to provide the parasitic wasp Ephedrus persicae Froggatt (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), which attacks the rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini) (Homoptera: Aphididae), with the alternative host Dysaphis sorbi Kaltenbach (Homoptera: Aphididae) in apple orchards. Rowan trees (Sorbus aucuparia L.) arranged along the side of an unsprayed orchard were artificially infested in late February 2002 with eggs of D. sorbi. Colonies of D. sorbi successfully developed from the introduced eggs and persisted on several trees until the end of June. The only primary parasitoid species emerging from a sample of mummified aphids collected in spring from the infested rowan trees was the braconid wasp species E. persicae. In a host-switching experiment, nymphs of D. plantaginea proved suitable for female parasitoids originating from mummified D. sorbi. A series of mummies collected from the rowan trees in early summer contained diapausing parasitoids and hyperparasitoids that only hatched in April of the following spring. These observations suggest the possibility of establishing a local population of E. persicae in apple orchards, so that D. plantaginea can be readily attacked by diapause-emerging parasitoids in early spring.     

Tetrastichine aphid hyperparasitoids (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Japan

A small collection of aphid hyperparasitic species of Tetrastichinae obtained by rearing mummified aphids in Japan were examined. In addition to the two already known species, three more species were confirmed to occur in Japan. A key to these five Japanese species and their hosts (primary parasitoids, aphids and plants) are provided. The modes of hyperparasitism and host associations of tetrastichine aphid hyperparasitoids are discussed.     

MOLECULAR MARKERS INDICATE RARE SEX IN A PREDOMINANTLY ASEXUAL PARASITOID WASP

The parasitoid wasp genus Lysiphlebus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) contains a taxonomically poorly resolved group of both sexual (arrhenotokous) species and asexual (thelytokous) clones. Maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from specimens collected across Western Europe showed that asexuality, which does not appear to be caused by the bacterium Wolbachia, is concentrated in two geographically widespread lineages, the older of which diverged from the closest extant sexual taxa approximately 0.5 million years ago. However, the DNA sequences of a nuclear intron (elongation factor—1α) showed no congruence with this pattern, and a much higher frequency of heterozygotes with very high allelic diversity was observed among the asexual females compared to that among females from the sexual species. This pattern is consistent with maternally inherited asexuality coupled with a history of rare sex with members of several closely related sexual populations or species. Our observations reinforce recent arguments that rare sex may be more important for the persistence of otherwise asexual lineages than hitherto appreciated.     

Native primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids attacking an invasive aphid Uroleucon nigrotuberculatum in Japan

Since the invasion of Uroleucon nigrotuberculatum from North America we searched for parasitoids of this aphid on Solidago altissima in Japan to determine what species of native parasitoids attack the newly invasive aphid. We found three primary parasitoid species: Ephedrus plagiator and Praon yomenae (Braconidae, Aphidiinae) and Aphelinus albipodus (Aphelinidae). We also found eight hyperparasitoid species: Syrphophagus sp. (Encyrtidae), Dendrocerus carpenteri (Megaspilidae), Asaphes suspensus (Pteromalidae) and Pachyneuron aphidis (Pteromalidae) through both E. plagiator and A. albipodus; Phaenoglyphis villosa (Figitidae, Charipinae), Aprostocetus sp. (Eulophidae, Tetrastichinae) and D. laticeps through E. plagiator, and Alloxysta sp. nr brevis (Figitidae, Charipinae) through A. albipodus. Uroleucon nigrotuberculatum is usually attacked by rather polyphagous primary parasitoids, E. plagiator and A. albipodus, in Japan, where an oligophagous parasitoid specialized to allied aphid species is probably absent. The hyperparasitoid community of U. nigrotuberculatum is common to those of the aphids occurring in open field‐type habitats in Japan.