Honeydew as a food source for natural enemies: Making the best of a bad meal?

The effect of different dietary sugars and honey on longevity and fecundity in two hyperparasitoid wasps

“…These food resources are commonly obtained from animal or plant exudates, such as honeydew, fruit juices and both floral and extra-floral nectar. In parasitic wasps, or 'parasitoids', the benefits of sugars on fitness-related traits, such as longevity and fecundity, is well established (Jervis et al, 1993;Heimpel et al, 1997;Wäckers, 2001;Casas et al, 2003;Lee et al, 2004;Winkler et al, 2006;Wäckers et al, 2008;Desouhant et al, 2010; but see Ellers et al, 2011). It is also well known that different sugars vary in their nutritional quality for parasitoids, with some greatly extending the lifespan whilst others have little effect or may even be toxic (Jervis et al, 1993;Wäckers, 2001;Wäckers et al, 2006;Kehrli and Bacher, 2008).…”

Whiteflies Provide Honeydew to Camponotus ants Without Receiving Reciprocal Favor

“…and thus do not take turns or stay continuously with the nymph colonies. Because Camponotus ants are omnivorous (Fowler & Roberts, 1980, Cannon & Fell, 2002Feldhaar et al, 2007), and honeydew is a suboptimal and ephemeral food source (Wäckers et al, 2008) it may be more advantageous for them not to attend continuously the whitefly nymphs, and had better forage at additional locations for alternative food. Moreover, the honeydew quality depends on the host plants species, whereby nutritionally-poor plants may mediate lower levels of ant attendance to hemipteran colonies (Nemec & Starý, 1990;Hendrix et al, 1992).…”

Manipulation of Natural Enemies in Agroecosystems: Habitat and Semiochemicals for Sustainable Insect Pest Control

“…Natural enemies from a broad range of orders including Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Heteroptera, Neuroptera, Araneae, and Acari have been observed to require and/or benefit from access to flowering resources . Access to pollen and nectar sources can significantly increase the activity, longevity, and fecundity of these predators and parasitoids (Wäckers et al, 2008;Hogg et al, 2011), and thus, the availability of flowering resources can be essential to natural enemy efficacy in biological control of pest insects (van Rijn & Sabelis, 2005). These non-prey requirements can be fulfilled with a diverse assemblage of flowering plants, which will provide necessary resources that support populations of predators and parasitoids throughout the season.…”