Longevity and fecundity of the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi provided with different carbohydrate diets

Abstract

In order for successful biological pest control using parasitoids, the most suitable naturally available food resources, as well as the fitness of parasitoids feeding on these resources, need to be ascertained. The goal of this study was to improve the understanding of the ecological requirements and consequent fitness of one such parasitoid, Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), a predominant stink bug (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) egg parasitoid native to southeastern USA. We assessed the effects of carbohydrate resources readily available in the wasp's natural habitat on longevity and fecundity of female T. podisi under laboratory conditions. Carbohydrate diets included in the study were buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum Moench (Polygonaceae) nectar and honeydew from cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae), compared with honey or water controls, which are normally used for laboratory rearing of this species. Eggs of Podisus maculiventris Say (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) were provided as hosts for oviposition. Honeydew of cowpea aphid proved to be as good a nutrition source as buckwheat nectar, in enhancing wasp longevity and fecundity. We also assessed the importance of honeydew freshness on the biological attributes of T. podisi, as honeydew becomes crystallized or highly viscous on drying up and therefore may pose an issue for uptake by parasitoids. We found that fresh honeydew of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris (Hemiptera: Aphididae) significantly enhanced wasp longevity when compared to a diet of 1-day-old honeydew and the fava bean leaf (control). However, fresh honeydew of green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae) had the same effect on wasp longevity, fecundity, and proportion of male progeny as radish leaf (control).

The combined effect of host and food availability on optimized parasitoid life‐history traits based on a three‐dimensional trade‐off surface

“…In addition, sugar supplementation has repeatedly been shown to enhance parasitoid lifespan ( e.g. Lee, Heimpel, & Leibee, 2004; Chen & Fadamiro, 2006; Zhu et al, 2013; Wang et al, 2014; Lahiri, Orr, Cardoza, & Sorenson, 2017), whereas it is generally assumed not to contribute significantly to egg production (Jervis, Ellers, & Harvey, 2008; Rivero & Casas, 1999; Visser & Ellers, 2008). This is especially true in pro‐ovigenic parasitoids in which females emerge with their full egg supply and do not produce additional eggs during their lifetime (Jervis, Heimpel, Ferns, Harvey, & Kidd, 2001; Rivero & Casas, 1999).…”

Masa hidup imago, progeni, dan kemampuan parasitisasi Anagyrus lopezi (De Santis) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), parasitoid kutu putih singkong

“…Irvin & Hoddle (2015) melaporkan progeni parasitoid Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault) meningkat berturut-turut 132% dan 152% jika induk betina parasitoid disediakan nektar dari bunga soba (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) dan ekstraflora dari tanaman Vicia sativa L. dibandingkan dengan yang hanya diberi air. Parasitoid Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) yang diberi embun madu dari kutu daun Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae) memiliki masa hidup dan keperidian yang sama dengan yang diberi nektar bunga soba dan madu (Lahiri et al 2017). Dengan demikian, pemahaman tentang kebutuhan nutrisi parasitoid merupakan hal penting dalam upaya penataan lanskap pertanian yang menunjang kehidupan parasitoid.…”

Impact of a shared sugar food source on biological control of Tuta absoluta by the parasitoid Necremnus tutae

“…In addition to feeding on host hemolymph, parasitoid females require sugar food sources such as floral nectar and/or honeydew in order to sustain biological traits linked to actual parasitoid fitness (Jervis et al 2001;Wäckers et al 2008;Benelli et al 2017). Honeydew consumption has been shown to increase parasitoid longevity (Hogervorst et al 2007;Hagenbucher et al 2014;Tena et al 2018) and may be involved in parasitoid performance, e.g., by increasing offspring production (Lahiri et al 2017;Dong et al 2018;Picciau et al 2019); this has notably been reported for N. artynes feeding on floral nectar (Balzan and Wäckers 2013) as well as for N. tutae feeding on whitefly honeydew (Dong et al 2018). We demonstrate further that tomato aphid honeydew enhances N. tutae adult longevity under laboratory conditions (Fig.…”