Abstract
The present paper deals with an account of the update species list of aphid parasitoids (Aphidiinae: Braconidae) in India with examples of their biocontrol successes. Altogether, 157 aphidiine species under 23 genera are recognized as valid in India. Names of the available host aphids and associated plants are provided in this paper. These aphidiine species attack 180 aphid species infesting 225 plants; however, some of the aphidiines were recorded from sweeping without mentioning any plant hostname. Available data on the distribution of each species in different states and territories of India is also provided. Information on the success stories of biological control of 8 aphidiine species in relation to India, viz., Aphidius colemani (Viereck), Aphidius ervi Haliday, Aphidius matricariae Haliday, Aphidius smithi Sharma and Rao, Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetzki, Binodoxys indicus (Subba Rao and Sharma), Diaereteilla rapae (M’Intosh), Kashmiria aphidis Starý and Bhagat are summarized.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akhtar, M.S., D. Dey, and M.K. Usmani. 2011. A catalogue of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from India. Insecta Mundi 151: 1–31.
Blackman, R.L., and V.F. Eastop. 2023. Aphids on the world’s plans. An online identification and information guide. http://www.aphidsonworldsplants.info/. Accessed 7 Sept 2022.
Boivin, G., T. Hance, and J. Brodeur. 2012. Aphid parasitoids in biological control. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 92: 1–12.
Charles, J.J., and T.D. Paine. 2016. Fitness effects of food resources on the polyphagous aphid parasitoid, Aphidius colemani Viereck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae). PLoS ONE 11 (1): e0147551. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147551. (PMID: 26808191; PMCID: PMC4725708).
Chakrabarti, Sumit. 1993. Bioecological studies of two aphidiid parasitoids (Hymenoptera) occurring in Garhwal Range of Western Himalaya. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the University of Kalyani, W.B., India.
Chen, J.H., D. Gonzales, and J. Luhman. 1991. A new species of Aphidius (Hymenoptera) attacking the pea aphid Acyrtosiphon pisum. Entomophaga 35: 509–514.
Das, B. 1987. Taxonomy and bioecology of some aphid parastioids (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) occurring in the Garhwal range of western Himalayas. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the University of Kalyani, W.B., India.
Del-Pozo, A. 2022. Updated List of Commercial Suppliers and Insectaries/Laboratories Selling Predators and Parasitoids for Augmentative Biocontrol. VCE Publications/ENTO/ENTO-480. https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/ENTO/ENTO-480/ENTO-480.html. Accessed 7 Aug 2022.
Dhiman, S.C., and V. Kumar. 1986. Biological control of mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kalt.) by using the parasitoid Aphidius (Diaeretiella) rapae (Curtis): Influence of parasitism on aphids. In Proceeding of a National Symposium on Pesticide Residues and Environmental Pollution, pp. 219–222. Muzaffarnagar, India.
Farhat, A., and R. Dharmadhrt. 2021. Potential role of Aphidius ervi in protecting greenhouse bell pepper cultures from Myzus persicae aphids in India. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.03.442443. Accessed 19 Aug 2022.
Gavkare, O., S. Kumar, and G. Japoshvili. 2013. Effectiveness of native parasitoids of Myzus persicae in greenhouse environments in India. Phytoparasitica 42 (2): 141–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-013-0346-5.
Ghaliow, M.E., A. Petrović, K. Kocić, J. Čkrkić, A.M. Bogdanović, P. Starý, N.G. Kavallieratos, and Ž Tomanović. 2018. Key for identification of the parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of aphids infesting alfalfa in Europe. Zootaxa 4378 (1): 098–110.
Ghosh, A.K., and P. Starý. 1983. Aphid parasitoids of India and adjacent countries (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae). Technical Monograph no. 7. Zoological Survey of India, pp. 1–97.
Hagen, K.S., and E.I. Schlinger. 1960. Imported Indian parasite of pea aphid established in California. California Agriculture 96: 5–6.
Hågvar, E.B., and T. Hofsvang. 1991. Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Aphidiidae): Biology, host selection and use in biological control. Biocontrol News and Information 12: 13–42.
Hughes, R.D. 1989. Biological control in the open field. In Aphids: Their biology, natural enemies and control, vol. 2C, ed. A.K. Minks and P. Hourenijn, 167–198. New York: Elsevier.
Kittel, R.N. 2016. Eighty-nine replacement names for Braconidae and Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea). Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology 22 (2): 161–174.
Petrović, A. 2022. Sizing the knowledge gap in taxonomy: The last dozen years of Aphidiinae research. Insects 13 (2): 170. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13020170.
Plants of the World Online (2022). http://www.plantsoftheworld.org. Accessed 7 Sept 2022.
Pons, X., B. Lumbierres, F. Madeiraa, and P. Starý. 2018. Aphid–parasitoid diversity in urban green areas: A background for conservative control strategies. Biodiversity. https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2018.1503970.
Rakhshani, E., and P. Starý. 2021. Aphid Parasitoids: Aphidiinae (Hym, Braconidae). In Biological control of insect and mite pests in Iran, progress in biological control, 1st ed., ed. J. Karimi and H. Madadi, 333–399. Cham: Springer.
Rakhshani, E., H. Barahoei, Z. Ahmad, P. Starý, M. Ghafouri-Moghaddam, M. Mehrparvar, N.G. Kavallieratos, J. Čkrkić, and Z. Tomanović. 2019. Review of Aphidiinae parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of the Middle East and North Africa: Key to species and host associations. European Journal of Taxonomy 552: 1–132.
Rao, V.P. 1969. Final Technical Report U.S. PL-480 Project: Survey for natural enemies of aphids in India. Indian Station. Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Bangalore, India.
Raychaudhuri, D., A.K. Samanta, D.R. Pramanik, D.K. Tamili, and S. Sarkar. 1990. Aphidiids (Hymenoptera) of Northeast India, ed. D. Raychaudhuri, 155. USA: Indira Publishing House.
Shrewsbury, P.M., and S.R. Leather. 2012. Using biodiversity for pest suppression in urban landscapes. Key issues for sustainable management. In Biodiversity and insects pests, ed. G.M. Gurr, S.D. Wratten, W.E. Snyder, and D.M.Y. Read, 293–308. Chichester: Wiley.
Singh, R. 2000. Biological control of Aphids by using their parasitoids. In Biocontrol potential and its exploitation in sustainable agriculture, ed. R.K. Upadhyay, K.G. Mukerji, and B.P. Chamola, 57–73. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Singh, R., and S.N. Rao. 1995. Biological control of Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae) on cucurbits by Trioxys indicus Subba Rao and Sharma (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae). Biological Agriculture and Horticulture 12: 227–236.
Starý, P. 1958. A taxonomic revision of some aphidiine genera with remarks on the subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Acta Faunistica Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 3: 53–96.
Starý, P. 1975. Aphidius colemani Viereck: Its taxonomy, distribution and host range (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae). Acta Entomologia Bohemoslov 72: 156–163.
The Plant List. 2022. http://theplantlist.org. Accessed 7 Sept 2022.
Woolley, V.C., Y.L.B. Tembo, B. Ndakidemi, J.N. Obanyi, E.J. Sarah, S.R. Belmain, P.A. Ndakidemi, J.O. Ogendo, and P.C. Stevenson. 2022. The diversity of aphid parasitoids in East Africa and implications for biological control. Pest Management Science 78: 1109–1116.
Yu, D.S., C. van Achterberg, and K. Horstmann. 2016. Taxapad, World Ichneumonoidea. Database on flash-drive. Ottawa, Ontario.
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our sincere thanks to Professor Dr. Ehsan Rakhshani, Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Iran for his support especially confirming the status of few aphidiine species. The first author (BCD) is thankful to the Authorities of Rajshahi University, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh for providing various facilities.
Funding
No funding is associated with this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest and do not have anything to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Das, B.C., Chakrabarti, S. Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera) Parasitoids in India with Examples of Their Biocontrol Successes. Proc Zool Soc 76, 355–372 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-023-00486-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-023-00486-1