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Host acceptance behavior of the parasitoid Aphelinus mali and its aphid-host Eriosoma lanigerum on two Rosaceae plant species

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Abstract

The presence of a natural enemy in a habitat refuge is no guarantee of emigration by these into crop fields, when pest population outbreaks occur. Parasitoids from a refuge may not prefer foraging on the pest crop, exhibiting host fidelity, and therefore not constituting a source of natural enemies for improving biological control. An effective refuge must not only be a suitable sink for natural enemies, providing an acceptable host when these are not present in the crop, but it must also be a suitable source of parasitoids that readily accept the aphid-host on the crop. Therefore, crop-originated parasitoids would have to accept pests from the refuge as hosts to lay eggs in, and refuge-originated parasitoids would have to accept and lay eggs in pests from the crop. We here study the host fidelity of populations of Eriosoma lanigerum originating from two host plants (firethorn and apple) through reciprocal transfer experiments. Thereafter, the host fidelity of parasitoids from populations in the two host plants (firethorn and apple) was assessed. Reciprocal transfer experiments of parasitoids did not show an association between apple-originated parasitoids and their preference for any of the aphid hosts. Conversely, parasitoids from firethorn exhibited a higher number of attacks and in less time when aphids from apple were offered, suggesting a preference for apple-originated aphids. If future field work confirms these findings, firethorn could become an important management tool for enhancing biological control of woolly apple aphid in apple orchards, without being a substantial source of aphids.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Eduardo Fuentes-Contreras and Jason Tylianakis; Cristián Muñoz and Marcos Dominguez for help rearing and mounting aphids and Cinthya Villegas for assistance with field and laboratory work; Camila Guajardo and Alejandra Vega from Marta Donoso High School. We would also like to thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments improving the manuscript. The study was funded by Fondecyt Project No. 11080013, an IFS Grant to BL and a Guillermo Blanco Masters Scholarship from Universidad de Talca to SO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Interacciones Insecto-Planta, Instituto de Biología Vegetal y Biotecnología, Universidad de Talca, 2 Norte 685, Talca, Chile

    Sebastián A. Ortiz-Martínez, Claudio C. Ramírez & Blas Lavandero

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  1. Sebastián A. Ortiz-Martínez
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  2. Claudio C. Ramírez
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  3. Blas Lavandero
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Correspondence to Blas Lavandero.

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Communicated by M. Traugott

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Ortiz-Martínez, S.A., Ramírez, C.C. & Lavandero, B. Host acceptance behavior of the parasitoid Aphelinus mali and its aphid-host Eriosoma lanigerum on two Rosaceae plant species. J Pest Sci 86, 659–667 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-013-0518-6

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