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Seasonal natural history of aphidophagous Syrphidae (Diptera) attacking the balsam twig aphid in balsam fir (Pinaceae) Christmas tree plantations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Richard Berthiaume ,
Christian Hébert ,
Georges Pelletier  and
Conrad Cloutier
Richard Berthiaume*
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences du bois et de la forêt, Faculté de foresterie, de géographie et de géomatique, Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada
Christian Hébert
Affiliation:
Centre de foresterie des Laurentides, Service canadien des forêts, Ressources naturelles Canada, C.P. 10380, 1055 rue du P.E.P.S., Stn. Sainte-Foy, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 4C7, Canada
Georges Pelletier
Affiliation:
Centre de foresterie des Laurentides, Service canadien des forêts, Ressources naturelles Canada, C.P. 10380, 1055 rue du P.E.P.S., Stn. Sainte-Foy, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 4C7, Canada
Conrad Cloutier
Affiliation:
Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Pavillon Alexandre Vachon, 1045 Ave de la Médecine, Ville de Québec, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: richard.berthiaume@sbf.ulaval.ca)
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Abstract

The balsam twig aphid, Mindarus abietinus Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests of balsam fir (Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller; Pinaceae) grown as Christmas trees in eastern North America. Aphid feeding on the current-year shoots results in needle distortion and shoots stunting, which reduces the aesthetic value of balsam fir trees and can have substantial economic impact. Syrphidae (Diptera) fly predators attacking this aphid are poorly known. We identified four species attacking the balsam twig aphid. Syrphus torvus Osten Sacken (Diptera: Syrphidae) was the most abundant species followed by Eupeodes lapponicus (Zetterstedt) (Diptera: Syrphidae) and Eupeodes americanus (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Syrphidae). We described the seasonal natural history of the two most abundant syrphids feeding on this aphid and we studied their synchrony with their prey. Syrphid larval density on balsam fir shoots increased rapidly and closely followed density of the balsam twig aphid. We also reported heavy parasitism of syrphid pupae by two Hymenoptera on tree foliage but lower parasitism on pupae in the soil under trees. Several cases of multiple parasitism and hyperparasitism were observed in syrphid pupae under trees. Abundance of predaceous syrphid species was higher in untreated balsam fir plantations compared with treated plantations. More research is needed to understand the role and the impact of these predators on balsam twig aphid population dynamics.

Type
Behaviour & Ecology
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 148 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 466 - 475
Copyright
© Entomological Society of Canada 2016 

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Jon Sweeney

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