scholarly journals Courtship behavior and identification of a sex pheromone in Ibalia leucospoides (Hymenoptera: Ibaliidae), a larval parasitoid of Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12266
Author(s):  
Hajar Faal ◽  
Peter J. Silk ◽  
Peter D. Mayo ◽  
Stephen A. Teale
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Courtship Behavior ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Wire Mesh ◽  
Active Components ◽  
Straight Chain ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Larval Parasitoid ◽  
Electroantennographic Detection

Background Ibalia leucospoides (Hymenoptera: Ibaliidae) is a larval parasitoid that has been widely introduced as a biological control agent for the invasive woodwasp,Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, the courtship behavior and identificaion of sex pheromones are described for I. leucospoides under laboratory conditions. Methods For courtship behavior, both sexes were observed in a wire mesh observation cylinder (75 cm length ×10 cm diameter) for 15 minutes. The female body washes were analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Electroantennographic Detection (GC-EAD). Then the EAD-active compounds were tentatively identified using GC-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and examined in olfactometer assays. Results The courtship behavior included rhythmic lateral movements, mounting, head-nodding cycles in males, and wing-fanning in females. GC-EAD analysis of female body washes with male antennae revealed seven compounds which elicited antennal responses, four of which are straight-chain alkanes (C23, C25, C26, and C27). The identities of these alkanes were confirmed by matching the retention times, mass spectra, and male antennal activity to those of commercially obtained chemicals. In olfactometer assays, a blend of the four straight-chain alkanes was attractive to I. leucospoides males, and there was no response to blends that lacked any of these four compounds. Female body wash was no more attractive than the four-component blend. The ratios of EAD-active components differ between hydrocarbon profiles from males and females. Conclusion This study is the first investigation of cuticular hydrocarbons in the family Ibaliidae. It provides evidence that the ubiquitous alkanes (C23, C25, C26, and C27) in sex-specific ratios attract I. leucospoides males.

scholarly journals Efficacy of Kamona strain Deladenus siricidicola nematodes for biological control of Sirex noctilio in North America and hybridisation with invasive conspecifics

NeoBiota ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
Tonya D. Bittner ◽  
Nathan Havill ◽  
Isis A.L. Caetano ◽  
Ann E. Hajek
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
North America ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
High Rate ◽  
White Rot ◽  
White Rot Fungus ◽  
Control Strain ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Parasitism Rates

Sirexnoctilio is an invasive woodwasp that, along with its symbiotic fungus, has killed pine trees (Pinus spp.) in North America and in numerous countries in the Southern Hemisphere. We tested a biological control agent in North America that has successfully controlled S.noctilio in Oceania, South Africa, and South America. Deladenussiricidicola nematodes feed on the symbiotic white rot fungus Amylostereumareolatum and can switch to being parasitic on S.noctilio. When parasitic, the Kamona nematode strain can sterilise the eggs of S.noctilio females. However, in North America, a different strain of D.siricidicola (NA), presumably introduced along with the woodwasp, parasitises but does not sterilise S.noctilio. We tested the sterilising Kamona biological control strain of D.siricidicola against S.noctilio in North America. Interactions between the biological control strain and the NA strain could include competitive exclusion, co-infection within hosts or hybridisation. We reared D.siricidicola Kamona on an A.areolatum strain native to North America (IGS-BE) and another strain (IGS-BDF) used commercially to mass-produce the nematode in Australia. We inoculated Kamona reared on either strain of A.areolatum into logs infested with S.noctilio larvae and compared parasitism rates against control logs. Individual nematodes were isolated from S.noctilio hemocoels and from sterilised eggs and were genotyped with eight microsatellite loci. A high rate of parasitisation of S.noctilio by D.siricidicolaNA was found for all treatments and we found evidence of both co-infection and hybridisation. Surprisingly, sterilisation rates were not related to the rates of parasitisation by D.siricidicola Kamona.

scholarly journals Extreme homozygosity in Southern Hemisphere populations of Deladenus siricidicola, a biological control agent of Sirex noctilio

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Osmond Mlonyeni ◽  
Brenda D. Wingfield ◽  
Michael J. Wingfield ◽  
Rodrigo Ahumada ◽  
Paula Klasmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Deladenus Siricidicola

scholarly journals Silvicultural Options to Reduce Pine Susceptibility to Attack by a Newly Detected Invasive Species, Sirex noctilio

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Dodds ◽  
Robert R. Cooke ◽  
Daniel W. Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Biological Control ◽  
North America ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Stand Management ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Growing Conditions

Abstract A nonnative woodwasp of Eurasian origin, Sirex noctilio F., was detected recently in Oswego, New York, infesting Scots, red, and white pine. S. noctilio has caused periodic widespread losses of pine timber resources in several Southern Hemisphere countries and may cause significant damage in pure even-aged stands and overstocked plantations in North America. However, stand management and biological control programs have successfully managed S. noctilio populations in other countries and similar programs are being developed for North America. Until the primary biological control agent, Beddingia siricidicola, a parasitic nematode, is established in North America, forest owners will have to rely solely on silvicultural treatments to reduce the susceptibility of at-risk pine stands to S. noctilio attack. Silvicultural treatments including precommercial thinning, promoting optimal growing conditions for pines on a given site, reducing numbers of susceptible hosts, and consistent monitoring of stands are suggested activities to help protect pine stands from invasion by S. noctilio.

scholarly journals Establishment and dispersal of Cotesia rubecula a larval parasitoid of Pieris rapae in the Nelson district

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 319-319
Author(s):  
D.R. Wallis ◽  
P.W. Shaw ◽  
G.P. Walker ◽  
F.H. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Pieris Rapae ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Release Site ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Trial Site ◽  
Cotesia Rubecula ◽  
Larval Parasitoid ◽  
Brassica Plants

Cotesia rubecula is a solitary larval parasitoid of Pieris rapae the small white butterfly (SWB) and has become an important biological control agent in regions where it has established since its release into New Zealand in 1993 It was first released in the Nelson region at three sites on 15 April 2013 after a survey in 2010 failed to find the parasitoid The cocoons of C rubecula for this release came from collections of SWB larvae at a trial site at Pukekohe and from unsprayed forage brassica plants growing near Burnham midCanterbury Monitoring of C rubecula and the established parasitoid C glomerata took place over two seasons 201415 and 201516 with all stages of SWB larvae collected at five properties across the Nelson region from Richmond to Motueka C rubecula were recovered from two of the original release sites for the next two years and appeared to spread to another site 9 km away from any release site This parasitoid is considered to be established in the region and should disperse naturally to become an important biological control agent of SWB in most habitats

scholarly journals The effect of insecticide application by dropleg sprayers on pollen beetle parasitism in oilseed rape

BioControl ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Hausmann ◽  
Udo Heimbach ◽  
Michael Rostás ◽  
Meike Brandes
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Total Catch ◽  
Pollen Beetle ◽  
Brassicogethes Aeneus ◽  
Larval Parasitoid ◽  
Parasitism Rates ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDropleg sprayers apply pesticides below the flower horizon of oilseed rape plants and thus reduce unwanted side effects on pollinating insects. Whether this technique benefits parasitoids of seed and pollen feeding insect pests has not been studied earlier. To answer this question, we first assessed the vertical distribution of pests and parasitoids using a portable aspirator. In addition, parasitism rates of pollen beetle, Brassicogethes aeneus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), by the larval parasitoid Tersilochus heterocerus Thomson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) were compared in conventional and dropleg sprayed fields over four years (2016–2019), using the neonicotinoids thiacloprid and acetamiprid. Our results show that seed and pollen feeders were mainly found in the flowering canopy, while the predominant location of parasitoids was species-specific. Among pollen beetle parasitoids, Phradis interstitialis Thomson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) was more abundant below flowering canopy (63% of total catch), whereas T. heterocerus was mainly caught in the flowering canopy (84% of total catch). In the spraying experiments, average parasitism rates of pollen beetles by T. heterocerus ranged between 55 and 82% in the untreated controls. In the dropleg spray treatments, parasitism rates did not differ significantly from control levels, with the exception of thiacloprid application in 2019. In contrast, conventional spray applications resulted in a reduction of parasitism rates by up to 37% compared to the control for at least one of the insecticides in three out of four years. The impact of conventional application differed between years, which may be explained by the temporal coincidence between spray application and the immigration of parasitoids into the crop. We conclude that dropleg spraying exerts lower non-target effects on the main biological control agent of pollen beetle.

Distinguishing isolates of Deladenus siricidicola, a biological control agent of Sirex noctilio, from North America and the Southern Hemisphere using PCR–RFLP

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1173-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Leal ◽  
B. Foord ◽  
C. Davis ◽  
P. de Groot ◽  
X.O. Mlonyeni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
The North ◽  
Pcr Rflp ◽  
Deladenus Siricidicola ◽  
Key Questions

The woodwasp Sirex noctilio Fabricius, along with its obligate symbiotic fungus Amylostereum areolatum (Chaillet ex Fr.) Boidin, is amongst the most damaging invasive species to many commercial pine plantations. The most effective biocontrol agent for management of this woodwasp has been the nematode Deladenus siricidicola Bedding. Before this agent can be used in North America, answering key questions about its interaction with native siricids and other strains of the nematode is essential, as would be the need to track its spread after release. The aim of this study was to develop tools to differentiate between the North American D. siricidicola isolates and the Southern Hemisphere Kamona strain of this species. We sequenced a region from ribosomal DNA and the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 and developed a PCR–RFLP method based on a single nucleotide polymorphism flanking a microsatellite sequence. These markers will be useful for science-based operational biocontrol of S. noctilio.

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