Khatri Diwas, He Xiong Z, Wang Qiao
Institute of Agriculture and Environment Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North New Zealand (
J Econ Entomol. 2017 Apr 1;110(2):400-406. doi: 10.1093/jee/tow324.
Mechanisms behind the success and failure of aphid biological control using parasitoids are largely unknown, probably because of the lack of knowledge of life history strategies of the insects involved. Here, we measured and compared life history strategies of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and its parasitoid Aphidius colemani (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae), providing essential information for evaluation of the potential of A. colemani to control M. persicae. Our results show that one A. colemani female parasitized ≈220 aphids within 1 wk regardless of the aphid age. Almost all aphids parasitized at <4th instar died before reaching adulthood, and those parasitized at ≥4th instar produced very few offspring, contributing little to population growth. Although having 21% lower intrinsic rate of increase and 33% longer life cycle than the aphid, the parasitoid possessed reproductive output and net population growth rate twice as high as the aphid, and reached maximum lifetime reproductive potential 1 wk earlier than the aphid. The life history strategies reported here imply that A. colemani is potentially a good biological control agent of M. persicae. On the basis of this study, we hypothesize that immediately after the onset of M. persicae, a release rate of ≈1:220 (female parasitoid:aphids) at a weekly interval during the first 3 wk could effectively control the pest. We suggest that the success of biological control of aphids using parasitoids largely depends on life history strategies of both insects involved and time of the season when they meet.
利用寄生蜂对蚜虫进行生物防治成败背后的机制在很大程度上尚不清楚，这可能是因为对相关昆虫的生活史策略缺乏了解。在此，我们测量并比较了桃蚜（烟粉虱）（半翅目：蚜科）及其寄生蜂菜蚜茧蜂（膜翅目：蚜茧蜂科）的生活史策略，为评估菜蚜茧蜂控制桃蚜的潜力提供了重要信息。我们的结果表明，无论蚜虫的龄期如何，一只菜蚜茧蜂雌虫在1周内可寄生约220只蚜虫。几乎所有在4龄前被寄生的蚜虫在成年前死亡，而那些在4龄及以上被寄生的蚜虫产生的后代很少，对种群增长贡献不大。尽管寄生蜂的内禀增长率比蚜虫低21%，生命周期比蚜虫长33%，但其繁殖输出和净种群增长率是蚜虫的两倍，并且比蚜虫提前1周达到最大终身繁殖潜力。这里报道的生活史策略表明，菜蚜茧蜂可能是桃蚜的一种良好生物防治剂。基于这项研究，我们假设在桃蚜发生后立即，在前3周内每周以约1:220（雌寄生蜂：蚜虫）的释放率可以有效控制害虫。我们认为，利用寄生蜂对蚜虫进行生物防治的成功很大程度上取决于所涉及的两种昆虫的生活史策略以及它们相遇的季节时间。
