Molecular tracking of arthropod predator–prey interactions in Mediterranean lettuce crops

Gomez-Polo, Priscila; Alomar, Òscar; Castañé, Cristina; Agustí, Núria

doi:10.1016/j.fooweb.2016.01.001

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This may reflect the adaptation of these two insect pests released in the cages to the different temperatures present in the plot in both seasons. As shown in a previous study conducted in several Mediterranean lettuce plots, the presence of Orius spp. in natural conditions was only observed in summer, when F. occidentalis was the main pest present in those crops.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…14,41,42,57,58 The species detected within O. majusculus in the present field study were common predators present in lettuce crops of the studied area, like hoverflies, coccinellids and spiders. 27,38 The information obtained by NGS in the present study about O. majusculus predation reveals unknown trophic interactions not only with pest species present in the crop but also with other biological control agents, which could have either positive or negative effects on the biological control of these target pests in this agroecosystem. This should be further investigated in order to develop suitable biological control programmes in lettuce for the main pest species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Understanding trophic interactions of Orius spp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in lettuce crops by molecular methods

et al. 2015

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Understanding trophic interactions of Orius spp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in lettuce crops by molecular methods

et al. 2015

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“…Many researchers have recognized the potential of spiders for biocontrol of pest outbreaks in agroecosystems [4,[8][9][10]. Spider families such as Thomisidae, Araneidae, Lycosidae, Oxyopidae, Eresidae, Clubionidae, and Hersiliidae have shown high potential as biocontrol agents due to their effective searching ability and predation on a wide variety of insect species [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight into Trophic Interactions of Spiders in Olive Groves with Integrated and Ecological Pest Management Using DNA Metabarcoding

Anđelić Dmitrović,

Gajski,

Kos

et al. 2023

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Spiders act as one of the major predators among arthropods in agroecosystems and are crucial to the control of pest densities. As they are almost exclusively predators, they have developed a number of hunting strategies, which have consequently impacted their complex trophic interactions. The development of molecular biology methods for environmental DNA analysis has made it easier to analyze such complex trophic networks. In order to ascertain the trophic interactions of spiders, a sampling of spider species was carried out in two olive groves in Zadar County, Croatia, under integrated and ecological pest management. To construct the trophic networks of spiders, we performed DNA metabarcoding. The combined general and spider-excluding primers were able to recognize prey from 12 distinct orders in the guts of the 57 spiders. According to our results, spiders have a complex trophic network that exhibits seasonal and site-specific variations. The results obtained from both sites having different pest management also confirmed that spiders consumed phytophagous insects in the highest ratio, including some important pests, in comparison to other prey and that management and guild type had an impact on the predation of phytophagous insects.

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“…However, establishing trophic linkages between species is difficult in a field setting because visual observation is time-consuming and can disrupt normal predator foraging decisions (Gomez-Polo et al ., 2015). Microscopic gut contents analysis can be useful when insect diets contain solid food fragments, but hoverfly larvae are exclusively fluid feeders (Gomez-Polo et al ., 2015, 2016). Consequently, determining actual predation rates and the influence of intercropping additional floral resources is difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection rates of aphid DNA in the guts of larval hoverflies and potential links to the provision of floral resources

Hodgkiss

Brown

Fountain

et al. 2022

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Aphidophagous hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae, Syrphinae) are common flower visitors and aphid predators in a range of flowering plants, including fruit crops. Here, we investigate whether aphid prey DNA can be detected in the gut contents of hoverfly larvae from a commercial strawberry field as a proof of concept that a molecular approach can be used to measure agricultural biocontrol. We used high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to target insect DNA and compared the resulting data to reference databases containing aphid and hoverfly DNA sequences. We explored what impact incorporating wildflowers within polythene-clad tunnels may have on aphid DNA detection rates in hoverfly larvae. In a randomized block experiment, coriander (Coriandrum sativum), field forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis) and corn mint (Mentha arvensis) plants were inserted in rows of strawberries. Their effect on aphid DNA detection rates was assessed. Aphid DNA was found in 55 of 149 specimens (37%) validating the method in principle for measuring agricultural services provided by hoverflies. Interestingly, detection rates were higher near plots with forget-me-not than plots with coriander, though detection rates in control plots did not differ significantly from either wildflower species. These findings confirm that hoverflies predate aphids in UK strawberry fields, and that HTS is a viable method of identifying aphid DNA in predatory hoverflies. We comment on the need for further method development to narrow down identifications of both predator and prey. We furthermore provide some evidence that there is an effect of intercropping strawberry crops with wildflowers which may affect aphid consumption in hoverfly larvae.

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Molecular tracking of arthropod predator–prey interactions in Mediterranean lettuce crops

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

Understanding trophic interactions of Orius spp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in lettuce crops by molecular methods

Understanding trophic interactions of Orius spp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in lettuce crops by molecular methods

Insight into Trophic Interactions of Spiders in Olive Groves with Integrated and Ecological Pest Management Using DNA Metabarcoding

Detection rates of aphid DNA in the guts of larval hoverflies and potential links to the provision of floral resources

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