scholarly journals WIDESPREAD HOST-DEPENDENT HYBRID UNFITNESS IN THE PEA APHID SPECIES COMPLEX

Evolution ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2983-2995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Peccoud ◽  
Manon de la Huerta ◽  
Joël Bonhomme ◽  
Cindy Laurence ◽  
Yannick Outreman ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Melanie R. Smee ◽  
Imperio Real-Ramirez ◽  
Catalina Zuluaga Arias ◽  
Tory A. Hendry

Interactions between epiphytic bacteria and herbivorous insects are ubiquitous on plants, but little is known about their ecological implications. Aphids are devastating crop pests worldwide, and so understanding how epiphytic bacteria impact aphid populations is critically important. Recent evidence demonstrates that plant-associated bacteria, such as Pseudomonas syringae, can be highly virulent to one species of aphid, the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum). Yet currently we have no knowledge on how broad this phenomenon is across diverse aphid species that are of high agricultural concern. In controlled experiments using oral exposure in artificial diet, we challenged five aphid species of agricultural importance with three strains of P. syringae that vary in virulence to the pea aphid. These strains also vary in epiphytic ability and comprise two phytopathogens and one non-plant pathogenic strain. In general, differences in virulence to aphids remained relatively constant across strains regardless of the aphid species, except for the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) which is significantly less susceptible to two P. syringae strains. We demonstrate that lower infection incidence likely plays a role in the reduced susceptibility. Importantly, these data support previous results showing that interactions with epiphytic bacteria are important for aphids and may play a large, but underappreciated, role in insect population dynamics. Our study illustrates a potential role of epiphytic bacteria in the biological control of aphid pests broadly, but suggests the need for more research encompassing a greater diversity of pest species. Importance Sap-sucking aphids are insects of huge agricultural concern, not only because of direct damage caused by feeding, but also because of their ability to transmit various plant pathogens. Some bacteria that grow on leaf surfaces, such as Pseudomonas syringae, can infect and kill aphids, making them potentially useful in biological control of pest aphids. However, only one aphid species, the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) has been tested for infection by P. syringae. Here we challenged five aphid species of agricultural importance with three strains of P. syringae that vary in virulence to the pea aphid. We found that four of these aphid species were susceptible to infection and death, suggesting that these bacteria could be broadly useful for biological control. However, one aphid species was much more resistant to infection, indicating that more testing on diverse aphid species is needed.


2004 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 214-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
X.Z. He ◽  
Q. Wang ◽  
D.A.J. Teulon

Aphidius ervi Haliday is an important parasitoid of several aphid species and information is needed for the development of massrearing techniques and better understanding of biological control ecology The emergence sexual maturation and oviposition of A ervi on pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) was studied in the laboratory at 201deg;C and 6070 RH with 168 h lightdark About 95 of parasitoids emerged during the photophase Females needed a significantly longer time than males to complete their life cycle Newly emerged males were able to perform their courtship display but failed to mate until they were 4 h old; newly emerged females were able to respond to males courtship display and mate Females attacked aphids in both light and dark conditions The number of eggs laid and parasitism (number of aphids parasitised) per oviposition bout (2 h oviposition period) were significantly greater in the photophase than in the scotophase


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 971
Author(s):  
Roberto Meseguer ◽  
Alexandre Levi-Mourao ◽  
Xavier Pons

Alfalfa is known to be an important reservoir harboring natural enemies. The reduction in insecticide sprayings in recent years has allowed us to study the coccinellid species complex in this crop and the relationship between these predators and aphids. Alfalfa was sampled by sweep-netting throughout its productive period in several commercial stands each year between 2010 and 2021. The numbers and species of aphids and coccinellids were recorded. Sixteen coccinellid species were found. Coccinella septempunctata and Hippodamia variegata were, by far, the most prevalent species, with the former dominating during the first and second intercuts, whereas the latter dominated from the third to the fifth intercut. Acyrthosiphon pisum and Therioaphis trifolii were the most abundant aphid species, peaking in the second and fourth intercuts, respectively. Positive correlations were found between the abundance of C. septempunctata and A. pisum at the second intercut, between H. variegata and T. trifolii at the fourth intercut, and between H. variegata and the total number of aphids in the fifth intercut. This study helps to increase the knowledge on the predator–prey relationships of this crop and allows for designing strategies of conservation biological control against aphids.


2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kunert ◽  
K. Schmoock-Ortlepp ◽  
U. Reissmann ◽  
S. Creutzburg ◽  
W.W. Weisser

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that the aphid species, Aphis fabae Scopoli and Megoura viciae Buckton, do not produce winged offspring in the presence of natural enemies, in contrast to results for the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)) and the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover); but these studies did not involve exposing aphids directly to natural enemies. We exposed colonies of both A. fabae and M. viciae to foraging lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens)) larvae and found that the predators did not induce winged morphs among offspring compared to unexposed controls. Colonies of A. fabae responded to an increase in aphid density with increasing winged morph production, while such response was not found for M. viciae. We suggest that different aphid species differ in their susceptibility to natural enemy attack, as well as in their sensitivity to contact.


2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safura Soleimani ◽  
Hossein Madadi

Abstract Two important lady beetle species commonly found in alfalfa fields in Iran are the variegated lady beetle Hippodamia variegata Goeze and the seven spotted lady beetle Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). These two species attack many aphid species including the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). In this study, the seasonal population changes of A. pisum, H. variegata, C. septempunctata and the parasitoid, Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were studied in alfalfa fields in the 2012 and 2013 seasonal periods. The highest ladybird densities were noted on July 5, 2012 and on September 6, 2013 (17.2±2.8 and 13.4±1.6) individuals per 20 sweeps, respectively. Parasitism rates by D. coccinellae ranged from approximately 3 to 6% in two subsequent years, respectively. Parasitism was higher early in the growing season. Most parasitised ladybirds were females. There was no significant relationship between the temperature and relative humidity with pea aphid populations, although the aphid populations declined during the hot summer period. In contrast, the relationship between temperature and the H. variegata population was significant and positive in both years of the study. It has been shown that these lady beetle species have a major role in reducing the pea aphid populations in alfalfa fields. Due to the relatively low percentage of field parasitism by D. coccinellae, this parasite might not reduce the biocontrol efficiency of lady beetle species.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Agabiti ◽  
Roxanne J. Wassenaar ◽  
Linton Winder

Background.Many aphid species, including the pea aphidAcyrthosiphon pisum, exhibit a behaviour where they drop or fall from their host plant, a commonly used strategy to avoid predation, parasitism or physical disturbance. We hypothesised that there was a physiological non-consumptive cost due to such dropping behaviour because aphids would expend energy re-establishing themselves on a host plant and also lose feeding time.Methods.We evaluated this non-consumptive cost by determining the development time and reproductive potential of pea aphids that whilst developing as nymphs had regularly dropped to the ground following dislodgment from their host plant. Using a microcosm approach, in a replicated and balanced laboratory experiment, we caused aphid dropping behaviour by tapping the plants on which they were feeding.Results.The results demonstrated that disturbance by dropping behaviour increased nymphal development time and reduced their subsequent reproductive capacity as adults.Discussion.We conclude that dropping behaviour had a strong negative effect on the development of nymphs and their subsequent reproductive capacity. This implies that the physiological cost of such a behaviour choice is substantial, and that such avoidance strategies require a trade-off which reduces the capacity of a population to increase.


1972 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 1717-1722 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. Frazer

AbstractLife tables were prepared from daily fecundity and survival data on 69 apterous black bean aphids, Aphis fabae Scopoli, and 47 apterous pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Both were on broad beans in 20° ± 0.5 °C, 70–80% R.H., and 16 hr light per day. The intrinsic rates of natural increase (rm) computed from the life tables were 0.359 ♀/♀ day for the bean aphid and 0.404 ♀/♀ day for the pea aphid. Mortality was not important in determining the rates of increase because very few aphids died during their reproductive periods. Only 5 of 116 reproducing aphids died, all from inability to extrude nymphs which had died before bursting their embryonic membranes. These nymphs became covered with a discharge from the mother which cemented them in place and prevented the birth of succeeding nymphs. The resulting engorged females died in 3–4 days.An analysis of and comparison with life tables of two other aphid species in addition to those produced here showed that the differences in rm were due almost entirely to differences in fecundity. Two fecundity patterns, correlated with aphid phylogeny, were recognized.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document