Ovipositor length of threeApocrypta species: Effect on oviposition behavior and correlation with syconial thickness

We investigated oviposition behavior in three non-pollinating fig wasps: the sympatric speciesApocrypta bakeri Joseph onFicus hispida L.,A. westwoodi Grandi onF. racemosa L., andApocrypta sp. onF. semicordata Buch.-Ham. The oviposition behavior differs significantly between one pair of species (A. bakeri andA. westwoodi) and the other species (Apocrypta sp. onF. semicordata).A. bakeri andA. westwoodi were similar in the following aspects: the posture of the abdomen and the action of the hind legs before penetration, and the bending ovipositor sheath during penetration. In contrast, the oviposition behavior ofApocrypta sp. is quite different. This difference can be explained by the significant correlation between ovipositor length and syconial thickness.Apocrypta sp. has a shorter ovipositor than the two other species, which correlates with the thinner syconial wall of its host figF. semicordata. It is deduced that the ovipositor length adapts to the syconial thickness and induces the oviposition behavior in the different species to diverge. For all threeApocrypta species, the midleg length and hindleg length are significantly correlated with their ovipositor lengths. This may be explained as due to the fact that body movement adjusting the hindlegs and midlegs up and down, or forward and backward, is also influenced by the ovipositor length.     

Parasitoid community of the loreyi leaf wormMythimna (Acantholeucania) loreyi: Novel host-parasitoid associations and their efficiency in the eastern mediterranean region of Turkey

The loreyi leaf worm,Mythimna (Acantholeucania) loreyi Duponchel (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), is a pest of gramineous crops and causes significant economic damage to maize. In field surveys on maize to determine the parasitoid community and its impact on the pest in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey, nine parasitoid species were found associated with immature stages ofM. loreyi: The hymenopteran (Braconidae and Ichneumonidae) parasitoidsCotesia (=Apanteles) ruficrus (Haliday),Chelonus oculator Panzer,Meteorus ictericus Nees,Hyposoter didymator (Thunberg),Sinophorus sp.; and the dipteran (Tachinidae) parasitoidsPseudogonia rufifrons Wiedeman,Exorista rossica Mesnil,Gonia picea (Robineau-Desvoidy) andLinnaemya vulpina (Fallen) — the last three recorded for the first time as parasitoids ofM. loreyi in Turkey.C. ruficrus was the dominant parasitoid species, being recovered from 38.5% of the larvae collected and was also the most prevalent species, existing in 91.0% of the fields in whichM. loreyi was found. Total parasitism levels achieved by braconid species was 41.4%, by ichneumonid parasitoids 4.8%, and by tachinid parasitoids 1.9%. In a separate field experiment, seasonal population fluctuations and natural efficiency ofC. ruficrus onM. loreyi were found to be 35.1% and 42.4%, respectively. Population levels ofC. ruficrus were closely related to fluctuations in the population ofM. loreyi, with parasitism ranging between 0 and 77.3% during the study. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Aug. 28, 2005.     

贵州省黔东南地区草地贪夜蛾寄生性天敌资源调查初报

草地贪夜蛾Spodoptera frugiperda(J. E. Smith)于2019年5月入侵贵州黔东南地区,严重威胁当地农业生态。黔东南地区丰富的生物资源是挖掘草地贪夜蛾自然天敌的重要基础。为明确黔东南地区草地贪夜蛾天敌的发生情况,2019年5月至7月,采用五点取样法对选取的3个地点开展调查。结果表明,草地贪夜蛾在黔东南地区的主要寄生性天敌有5类,分别为白僵菌属、绿僵菌属、茧蜂科、姬蜂科和黑卵蜂属昆虫,寄生率最高分别为45.50%、57.00%、3.00%、20.00%和12.50%,寄生草地贪夜蛾幼虫期4种天敌综合控制力最高达96.50%。本研究可为草地贪夜蛾天敌资源挖掘与利用提供重要参考。     

星天牛生物防治研究进展

星天牛Anoplophora chinensis Forster为亚洲本土的林木钻蛀性害虫，近年来已入侵到一些欧洲国家，被列为重要的国际检疫对象。本文综述了国内外有关星天牛的自然天敌种类及其人工利用的研究进展。我国古代曾用黄猄蚁Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius防治危害柑橘树的星天牛，近年来开展了野外释放天敌昆虫花绒寄甲Dastarcus helophoroides Fairmaire成虫和卵卡防治星天牛的实践，都取得了较好的防治效果。川硬皮肿腿蜂Sclerodermus sichuanensis Xiao对星天牛低龄幼虫具有一定的控制作用，天牛卵长尾啮小蜂Aprostocetus fukutai Miwa&Sonan显示出了良好的生物防治利用前景，在意大利对星天牛的卵寄生率最高达72%。一些欧洲本地拟寄生蜂种类，如柄腹茧蜂Spathius erythrocephalus Wesmael也可寄生入侵当地的星天牛自然种群。此外，利用昆虫病原微生物控制星天牛，也具有较好的防治前景，如用布氏白僵菌Beauveria brongniartii Petch制成的无纺布菌条已经在日本开发成为一种商品，真菌侵染可引起天牛高致死率。昆虫病原线虫夜蛾斯氏线虫Steinernema feltiae Filipjev和小卷蛾斯氏线虫S.carpocapsae Weiser也具有作为生物杀虫剂用于控制星天牛幼虫的开发前景。本文还讨论了目前星天牛生物防治中存在的不足及其原因，展望了今后研究的重点和方向。     

Sublethal effects of nine insecticides on Drosophila suzukii and its major pupal parasitoid Trichopria drosophilae

Background

Although the pupal parasitoid Trichopria drosophilae is used in conservative and augmentative biocontrol of Drosophila suzukii infestations, current pest management strategies mostly rely on multiple insecticide applications. In this context, the aim of the study was to investigate the baseline toxicity of nine insecticides on D. suzukii larvae and their multiple sublethal effects (LC₁₀) on immature stages of the pest feeding on contaminated diet and T. drosophilae developing within the intoxicated host.

Results

Chlorpyriphos and azadirachtin showed the lowest and the highest LC₁₀, the values of which were 9.78 × 10¹³ and 1.46 × 10³ times lower than their recommended label field rate, respectively. Among tested insecticides, imidacloprid, malathion and dimethoate were the only treatments that did not affect the juvenile development time of D. suzukii, while spinosad and the organophosphates chlorpyriphos and dimethoate did not influence fly pupal size. No sublethal effects were recorded on T. drosophilae degree of infestation (DI) and juvenile development time. On the contrary, cyazypyr and dimethoate negatively affected the success of parasitism (SP) and the number of progeny of the pupal parasitoid, in association with malathion for the first parameter and spinosad for the fertility. Compared to the untreated control, more female progeny emerged following azadirachtin exposure, while dimethoate caused the opposite effect. Imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin and spinetoram decreased hind tibia length of emerged parasitoids.

Conclusion

This study provides new insights on the (eco)toxicological profile of nine insecticides and new information needed to support the deployment of T. drosophilae in the field within the sustainable management techniques against D. suzukii. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Attraction ofTrichogramma platneri to eggs of some lepidopterous pests of avocado

The attraction ofTrichogramma platneri Nagarkatti (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) to eggs of two lepidopterous avocado pests,Boarmia sel-enaria (Schiffermüller) (Geometridae) andCryptoblabes gnidiella (Millière) (Phycitidae), was evaluated in olfactometer tests. The mobility of the wasp as measured by a mobility index was 0.6 for males and 1.8 for females; the males had a lower mobility and a lower search capacity index than the females. Frozen and fresh youngB. selenaria eggs had the greatest attraction forT. platneri, which diminished with increasing age of the eggs. The eggs ofC. gnidiella were also attractive to the parasitoid. Contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization. No. 2704-E, 1989 series.     

美洲斑潜蝇与南美斑潜蝇的寄生蜂自然控害能力的调查

经对辽宁省岫岩蔬菜区美洲斑潜蝇和南美斑潜蝇的寄生蜂及其寄生情况的初步调查,结果表明,这两种斑潜蝇的寄生蜂有9种。其中优势种群有潜蝇姬小蜂和茧蜂科的种类3种以上。在蔬菜田不用杀虫剂的情况下,寄生蜂6月中旬后迅速上升,7月份对两种斑潜蝇的寄生率可达75%以上,对斑潜蝇种群具有明显的控制作用,可使夏、秋季田间两种斑潜蝇种群迅速下降,一般不需防治。     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dittrichia viscosa</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rubus ulmifolius</Emphasis> as reservoirs of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) and the role of certain Coccinellid species

The role of the self-sown shrubsDittrichia viscosa (L.) W. Greuter andRubus ulmifolius Schott as reservoirs of aphid parasitoids was investigated. In the field studies conducted,D. viscosa grew adjacent to crops of durum wheat and barley andR. ulmifolius grew adjacent to cotton. The relative abundance of the parasitoids of(a) Capitophorus inulae (Passerini) onD. viscosa, (b) Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) on durum wheat and barley,(c) Aphis ruborum (Börner) onR. ulmifolius, and(d) Aphis gossypii Glover on cotton in various parts of Greece, was assessed during the years 1996–2000. In 2000, the fluctuation of parasitization of the above four aphid species was recorded and the action of the aphidophagous predators of the family Coccinellidae was studied. It was observed thatAphidius matricariae Haliday predominated onC. inulae andR. padi in all sampling cases. In contrast,Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) was the dominant species parasitizingA. ruborum onR. ulmifolius andA. gossypii on cotton in Thessaly (central Greece) and Macedonia (northern Greece), whereasLysiphlebus confusus Tremblay et Eady andBinodoxys acalephae (Marshall) were the dominant parasitoid species in Thrace (northern Greece).Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus was the most abundant coccinellid species on durum wheat, whereasAdonia variegata (Goeze) predominated on cotton. However, coccinellid individuals were scarce on bothD. viscosa andR. ulmifolius. The present study indicated that these two shrubs can be regarded as useful reservoirs of aphid parasitoids.