Floral Nectars and Honey Enhance Survival of Diadegma insulare (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a Parasitoid of the Diamondback Moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Gourdine, J. Shani; Simmons, Alvin M.; McCutcheon, Gloria S.; Leibee, Gary L.

doi:10.18474/0749-8004-40.1.96

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, plots where a greater proportion of wasps had fed on sugar, or where wasps had higher probabilities of nectar feeding, likewise had longer‐lived wasps. This is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that floral habitat can influence the longevity and fecundity of naturally occurring parasitoids in the field, and that ingestion of nectar or other sources correlates with longevity, corroborating laboratory and field‐cage studies with D. insulare (Idris & Grafius 1995; Johanowicz & Mitchell 2000; Gourdine et al . 2003; Lee et al .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Floral resources impact longevity and oviposition rate of a parasitoid in the field

Lee

Heimpel

2008

Journal of Animal Ecology

151

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Summary 1.The use of floral resource subsidies to improve herbivore suppression by parasitoids requires certain trophic interactions and physiological changes to occur. While the longevity and fecundity of parasitoids are positively affected by nectar subsidies in laboratory studies, the impacts of floral subsidies on the fecundity and longevity of freely foraging parasitoids have not been studied. 2. We studied the longevity and per capita fecundity of naturally occurring Diadegma insulare foraging in cabbage plots with and without borders of flowering buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, as well as relationships between longevity, fecundity, sugar feeding and parasitism rates on larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella . 3. Relative longevity was estimated by counting broken setae on the fringe of the forewing. Floral borders increased the longevity of males and females in adjacent cabbage plots. 4. The egg maturation rate of D. insulare was estimated by comparing egg loads of females collected early in the day with egg loads of females held without hosts in field cages throughout the day. Females in buckwheat cages matured 2·7 eggs per hour while females in control cages resorbed 0·27 eggs over the same time period. 5. The fecundity of females collected in the afternoon was estimated by comparing their actual egg load to the estimated egg load in the absence of oviposition for females in a given plot. Females foraging in buckwheat plots had marginally fewer eggs remaining in their ovaries, and laid marginally more eggs than females in control plots. Females from both treatments carried 30-60 eggs by the afternoon and therefore were time-limited rather than egg-limited. 6. Plots where a greater proportion of females had fed on sugar had longer-lived females. This suggests that feeding enhanced longevity of D. insulare . However, plots with longer-lived and more fecund females did not exhibit higher parasitism rates, although the power of these tests were low.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Floral resources impact longevity and oviposition rate of a parasitoid in the field

Lee

Heimpel

2008

Journal of Animal Ecology

151

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“…In the Þeld, dispersal of parasitoids or predators from the target crop is a possibility. Yet, strategies that facilitate natural enemies to stay in or near the Þeld are desired (Gourdine et al 2003, Arnó et al 2010. Our data supports that when D. catalinae are employed in greenhouses or Þelds for whiteßy management, during low prey populations, honeydew from the whiteßy prey can help sustain the population of this predator.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…Feeding on nonprey such as nectars, pollen, sugars, and honeydew have been demonstrated to have a positive effect on the survivorship of many natural enemies (e.g., Cottrell and Yeargan 1998, Gourdine et al 2003, Gourdine et al 2005, Lundgren 2009, Seagraves 2009. Whiteßies and aphids are well known for their excretion of honeydew, a sticky carbohydrate, during their feeding on plants.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult Survival ofDelphastus catalinae(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Predator of Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), on Diets of Whiteflies, Honeydew, and Honey

Simmons

Legaspi

2012

Environ Entomol

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Delphastus catalinae (Horn) is a coccinellid predator that is commercially sold for the management of whiteflies. A study was conducted to assay the effect of selected diets on the survival of adult D. catalinae. Treatments of water (as a control), 10% honey, honeydew, and whiteflies [Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)] were provided to the beetles in laboratory assays. Newly emerged, unfed adult insects were used at the start of a survival experiment with trials lasting 50 d. Another survival experiment used mixed-aged adults from a greenhouse colony, and the trials lasted 21 d. Survival was poor on a diet of solely water; ~1% survived beyond a week at 26°C. Survival using the newly emerged insects was similar between those fed honeydew and honey diets, but those on the whitefly diet had the greatest survival (~60% on day 50). However, in the experiment with mixed-aged beetles, adults on honey, and whitefly diets performed the same over a 21-d experiment. Excluding those on the water diet, survival of beetles on the various diets ranged from ~50-80% after 21 d. In an open choice assay across 7 h, D. catalinae adults were found on the whitefly diet in a much greater incidence than on the other diets, and the number of beetles found on the whitefly diet increased over time. The data supports that when D. catalinae are employed in greenhouses or fields for whitefly management, during low prey populations, honeydew from the whitefly can help sustain the population of this predator. Moreover, a supplemental food such as a honey solution can help sustain the population of D. catalinae when the prey is decreased to low numbers. These results may help in the development of strategies to enhance the utility of predators for the management of whiteflies.

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“…Diadegma insulare (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) is one of the most important parasitoids of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), in North America (Sarfraz et al , 2005). Studies show that feeding on floral nectar or other sugar sources increases D. insulare longevity (Johanowicz & Mitchell, 2000; Lee et al , 2004; Gourdine et al , 2005), and fecundity in the laboratory or field cages (Idris & Grafius, 1995; Gourdine et al , 2003). Nevertheless, the presence of floral nectar sugars does not consistently increase parasitism rates on P. xylostella in the field (Zhao et al , 1992; Al‐Doghairi & Cranshaw, 2004; Lee & Heimpel, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Physiological changes after sugar feeding are documented for D. insulare (Lee et al , 2004; Wäckers et al , 2006), but the impacts on behaviour are not well understood. Higher parasitism rates from well‐fed D. insulare have been attributed to increased longevity and hence lifetime reproductive output rather than increased oviposition rates (Gourdine et al , 2003). Therefore, the present study aims to determine how sugar feeding influences movement and ovipositional activity of D. insulare in and out of a host patch.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar feeding reduces short‐term activity of a parasitoid wasp

Lee

Heimpel

2007

Physiological Entomology

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Adding sugar to agricultural habitats is expected to enhance pest control by improving the longevity and physiological status of parasitoids. How a sugar diet and physiological parameters affect the host-foraging behaviour of Diadegma insulare , a parasitoid of diamondback moth larvae ( Plutella xylostella ), is investigated in the laboratory. Newly-emerged females are given water or sucrose-water ad libitum for 1 day, and then monitored for movement onto and away from a single cabbage leaf infested with 30 host larvae for 1 h. A significantly lower percentage of sucrose-fed females enter the host patch than those with access to only water (starved) females (60% vs. 91%). Of the females that enter the patch, fed wasps spend significantly less time in the patch than starved wasps (32.2 vs. 25.7 min) but feeding does not significantly affect oviposition rate. Fed and starved females sting six to seven larvae, and 19 -29% of females superparasitize host larvae. Wasps with higher levels of fructose are less likely to enter the host patch than wasps with lower fructose levels. The lower proportion of fed wasps entering the patch may be due to a period of inactivity after sugar feeding.

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Floral Nectars and Honey Enhance Survival of Diadegma insulare (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a Parasitoid of the Diamondback Moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Floral resources impact longevity and oviposition rate of a parasitoid in the field

Floral resources impact longevity and oviposition rate of a parasitoid in the field

Adult Survival ofDelphastus catalinae(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Predator of Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), on Diets of Whiteflies, Honeydew, and Honey

Sugar feeding reduces short‐term activity of a parasitoid wasp

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