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Effects of flowering groundcover vegetation on diversity and activity of wasps in a farm shelterbelt in temperate Australia

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Abstract

Significant worldwide interest in conservation biological control in agricultural systems currently exists but little information is available on the usefulness of this approach in farm forestry. In a field experiment conducted in a native vegetated shelterbelt in central-west New South Wales, we measured the diversity of wasps in plots comprising Eucalyptus blakelyi Maiden (Myrtaceae) trees with and without a groundcover of Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv. (Brassicaceae). Vacuum samples revealed a greater abundance and species richness of parasitic wasps in the plots comprising trees surrounded by the L. maritima groundcover. Cotesia sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Pteromalus sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), Anagyrus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Entedoninae sp. and Eulophidae sp. 1 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) were the most common taxa. These were more abundant also in the trees with the L. maritima groundcover. Ardozyga stratifera (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) larvae, that were naturally infesting the E. blakelyi trees, were significantly more parasitized in the trees with the L. maritima groundcover. Results indicate that parasitic wasps associated with a native-tree shelterbelt in Australia were amenable to manipulation via groundcover vegetation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Andrew Mitchell (Orange Agriculture Institute, NSW) and Ted Edwards (Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra) for confirming Ardozyga stratifera (Lepidoptera); Matthew Buffington (USDA/SEL, Washington) for determining Figitidae and Cynipidae (Hymenoptera); Andrew Austin (The University of Adelaide, SA) for determining Glyptapanteles sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae); and Marja Simpson for help in field work. This study was supported by the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program [Project # US-117A] and Australian National Field Days, NSW, Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Sagrario Gámez-Virués

  2. Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia

    Geoff Gurr, Anantanarayanan Raman & Helen Nicol

  3. Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    John La Salle

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  1. Sagrario Gámez-Virués
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  2. Geoff Gurr
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  3. Anantanarayanan Raman
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Correspondence to Geoff Gurr.

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Handling editor: Torsten Meiners.

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Gámez-Virués, S., Gurr, G., Raman, A. et al. Effects of flowering groundcover vegetation on diversity and activity of wasps in a farm shelterbelt in temperate Australia. BioControl 54, 211–218 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-008-9182-9

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