Biology of Glyphepomis dubia Campos & Souza, 2016 (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and the parasitoids Telenomus podisi Ashmead, 1893 and Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) on rice

The life cycle of stink bug, Glyphepomis dubia and the development of two egg parasitoids (Telenomus podisi and Trissolcus basalis) were studied at the Federal University of Maranhão, at 26 ± 2oC, relative humidity (RH) of 60 ± 10% and 12h photophase. Individuals used in the study were collected from seven rice fields located around the municipality of Arari, Maranhão, Brazil, and maintained in greenhouse and laboratory for the life cycle studies. From egg to adult, G. dubia took 35.2 days to complete the life cycle. The oviposition period was 37 days, with egg masses of about 12 eggs each and viability of 93.1%. Longevity was 53 and 65 days for females and males, respectively. The egg parasitoids Te. podisi and Tr. basalis parasitized and developed in G. dubia eggs; however, the biological characteristics of Tr. basalis were affected. Emergence of the parasitoids was higher for Te. podisi (83.5%) compared to the records for Tr. basalis (50.4%). Therefore, G. dubia may potentially achieve a pest status and Te. podisi is a promising biological control agent for G. dubia management in Brazil due to its higher longevity and better reproductive parameters.

Pestering Capitalism. Thinking with Halyomorpha halys about multispecies relations and ecological unsustainability

Many non-human species trouble human-oriented forms of multispecies life, which leads to classifying some of these species as pests. One of the fields of daily life most disturbed by the action of pests is modern capitalist agriculture, leading to different types of pest management by which human beings attempt to eliminate pests’ opposition to the anthropogenic appropriation of the work/energy of multispecies assemblages, an appropriation which is essential for capital circulation. In dominant modern capitalist cosmologies, the disturbances caused by pests automatically justify and require their attempted extermination. Without denying that pests are troubling, I argue that the technoscientific framing of our relationship with these species is insufficient as a way of understanding and interacting with them. Rather than exclusively seeing pests as a problem, the manner in which humans interact with these species points us to several foundational - and in themselves problematic – aspects of modern capitalist world-ecology. Taking my research on networks concerned with kiwifruit farming and commercialization in Portugal as a basis for my arguments, I look at how actors in these networks propose to deal with Halyomorpha halys, the brown marmorated stink bug, in an attempt to think with this species about the (inextricably connected) socio-ecological unsustainability of modern capitalist world-ecology and the bio-thanato-political strategies of immunization employed to deal with non-human species in this political ecological system.

Psix striaticeps (Dodd) (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae): an Old World parasitoid of stink bug eggs arrives in Florida, USA

Psix striaticeps (Dodd) is an egg-parasitoid wasp previously known only from the Old World. We report this species from twelve counties in Florida, which are the first records in the Western Hemisphere. It was collected in yellow cylinder traps and reared from the eggs of three stink bug species: Nezara viridula L., Chinavia marginata (Palisot de Beauvois), and Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood). A COI barcode analysis found a 100% match between the Floridian population and a specimen from South Africa. The prospects of using Ps. striaticeps as a biological control agent against exotic stink bugs are discussed.

Identification and expression of odorant binding proteins in the egg-parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae, Telenominae)

Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) is an egg-parasitoid of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (Linneaus) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae). Many behaviors associated with female T. basalis host-finding and acceptance are mediated by chemosensory pathways, for which olfactory, gustatory and ionotropic receptors have been previously identified. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are small, globular proteins, one of the functions of which is the transport of odorant ligands through the aqueous lymph of chemosensory sensilla to these receptors. We identified 18 classical OBP sequences in the T. basalis genome and transcriptomes sharing an average 26.8% pairwise identity. Gene tree analyses suggest very limited lineage-specific expansion and identify potential orthologs among other scelionids and Hymenoptera. Transcriptome mapping and qPCR comparison of expression levels in antennae and bodies of both sexes determine that at least five TbOBPs are preferentially expressed in the female antennae. These are, therefore, prime candidates for further study to determine their role in detecting host-produced semiochemicals.

 Gryon aetherium Talamas (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae): Parasitoid of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) Adventive in Chile

A parasitoid wasp, Gryon aetherium Talamas (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), was reared from eggs of the invasive stink bug Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) in Chile. The identification of G. aetherium, which is under study as a biological control agent, was made with morphological and molecular data in the context of a recent taxonomic treatment of this species. The presence of an adventive population of G. aetherium in South America has implications for biological control of B. hilaris in Chile, and other countries on the continent, where this stink bug may become a pest.

Stink bug egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) associated with pistachio in Iran and description of a new species: Trissolcus darreh Talamas

Surveys for egg-parasitoid wasps were conducted in Rafsanjan, Iran, on two species of Pentatomidae (Hemiptera) found in pistachio orchards, Acrosternum arabicum Wagner and Brachynema signatum Jakovlev. Five species of Scelionidae (Platygastroidea) were recovered, including one that is here described as new: Psix saccharicola (Mani), Trissolcus colemani (Crawford), T. darreh Talamas sp. nov., T. perepelovi (Kozlov), and T. semistriatus (Nees). In addition to describing a new species, we report new host associations, provide COI barcodes for four of these species, and discuss host-related intraspecific variation in T. darreh and T. perepelovi.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys Stål.) Attack Induces a Metabolic Response in Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) Fruit

The polyphagous brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys Stål.) is an important pest in many countries. Recently it was noticed that it can feed on and cause damage to strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). The metabolic response of strawberries to brown marmorated stink bug attacks was studied. Brown marmorated stink bugs attacked strawberry fruit which had 18% lower total sugar content compared to that of the control treatment. However, organic acid content had no significant difference among the three treatments, with the exception of shikimic acid, which had the highest content in the attacked fruit. Thirty-one phenolic compounds were identified. Results showed a strong effect on secondary metabolites due to H. halys attacks. Halyomorpha halys treatment had 27% higher total analyzed phenolic content compared to the indirect Halyomorpha halys treatment. The brown marmorated stink bug significantly increased total ellagic acid derivatives (33.1% to 37% higher), hydroxycinnamic acids (22.3% higher) and anthocyanins’ (39% higher) contents. Fruit attacked by Halyomorpha halys also had higher catechin and epicatechin content than that of the control treatments. This pest had a significant influence on the plant’s secondary metabolism, and this improved our understanding of how a strawberry plant reacts to the attacks of this very important pest. H. halys-infested fruit are not suitable for commercial production, due to the production of off-flavors.

Optimizing efficiencies in biosecurity surveillance and monitoring: testing colour and multi-lure traps on tomato potato psyllid, other plant-lice (Psylloidea) and stinkbugs (Pentatomoidea)

Cost efficiency in biosecurity surveillance is vital, and the ability to survey for multiple pest species using just one trap therefore highly appealing. The Psylloidea, or plantlice, contain significant horticultural pest species that act as vectors for a number of deleterious plant bacteriums. We examine the efficacy of using two different coloured sticky traps, and two lure types on the general Psylloidea and Pentatomoidea fauna, and a target extant pest psyllid; tomato potato psyllid (TPP) Bactericera cockerelli (Šulc). Specifically, we test the effect of lure (no lure, Asian citrus psyllid ACP lure, brown marmorated stink bug BMSB lure, combined lures), sticky trap color (green vs yellow), and sentinel plant (tomato vs citrus) on psyllid and stink bug species in 104 urban backyards across Perth, Australia. We found that tomato sentinel host plants and green traps significantly increased the capture rate of TPP, but that all lures decreased the capture of TPP. Green traps also increased the capture rate of all other Psylloidea. Although BMSB lures reduced TPP capture, these lures increased abundances of other Psylloidea and the pest stinkbug Plautia affinis (Dallas) on traps. Thus, our experiment demonstrates that increased efficiencies can be gained with combination traps and lures for particular groups, provided that they have been tested on focal organisms in the first instance, as reactions to non-target lures are unpredictable and species specific.