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Host recognition and acceptance behaviour in two aphid parasitoid species: Aphidius ervi and Aphidius microlophii (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

F. Pennacchio ,
M.C. Digilio ,
E. Tremblay  and
A. Tranfaglia
F. Pennacchio*
Affiliation:
Dipartimeno di Biologia, Difesa e Biotecnologie Agro-Forestali, Universifà della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
M.C. Digilio
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Entomologia e Zoologia Agraria, Università di Napoli Federico II, Portici, Italy
E. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Entomologia e Zoologia Agraria, Università di Napoli Federico II, Portici, Italy
A. Tranfaglia
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia, Difesa e Biotecnologie Agro-Forestali, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
*
F. Pennacchio, Dipartimento di Biologia, Difesa e Biotecnologie Agro-Forestali, Università della Basilicata, Via N. Sauro, 85, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
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Abstract

The host preference and acceptance behaviour of populations of Aphidius ervi Haliday and A. microlophii Pennacchio & Tremblay from southern Italy was investigated. In no host-choice conditions, A. ervi females showed significantly higher attack and oviposition rates on the natural host Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) than on the non-host aphid Microlophium carnosum (Buckton)(Homoptera: Aphididae). In contrast, A. microlophii, which specifically parasitizes M. carnosum in the field, attacked both aphid species. However, dissections showed that oviposition of A. microlophii occurred only in a few of the attacked Acyrthosiphon pisum and was significantly less frequent than in M. carnosum. These results were confirmed in experimental host-choice conditions, suggesting that Aphidius microlophii oviposition is possibly regulated by a host haemolymphatic kairomone. Hybrids obtained by crossing A. ervi females with A. microlophii males attacked and oviposited in both aphid species, suggesting that these behavioural events have a strong genetic basis. The oviposition into host or non-host aphids did not elicit an immune defence reaction. The presence of the host's food-plant had no evident close-range effects on parasitoid attack and oviposition in non-host aphids. Aphidius microlophii reared on the non-host aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum produced a significant higher number of mummies after a few generations, suggesting a possible role of larval and early adult conditioning in the host selection process. These results, together with those from previous studies, suggest that Aphidius ervi is best considered as a complex of differentiated populations, characterized by a varying degree of genetic divergence.

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Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 84 , Issue 1 , March 1994 , pp. 57 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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