Kelly Suzanne E, Moore Wendy, Hall W Eugene, Hunter Martha S
Department of Entomology The University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA.
Ecol Evol. 2022 Jul 31;12(8):e9151. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9151. eCollection 2022 Aug.
Cochineal is the common name for cactus-feeding scale insects in the Dactylopiidae. These ruby-red insects include the domesticated dye insect . and congeners have been introduced around the world, some accidentally, to become pests of prickly pear cactus species (), and some intentionally, for dye production or biological control of pest In the northern Sonoran Desert (Tucson, AZ, USA), we studied the enemy complex of and on and characterized two cryptic enemies, a coccinellid beetle predator and a parasitoid wasp. (1) sp The coccinellid predator shares a niche with a similar, typically all-black beetle. Morphological data, crossing tests, and phylogenetic results showed the black beetle to be a distinct, undescribed species in the genus , with a rare spotted phenotype that is similar in appearance to Crossing tests among black and spotted forms showed the spotted morph is inherited as a single-locus dominant allele. (2) Rearing of this ant-like parasitoid wasp (Encyrtidae) in pure culture of showed it to be a semi-gregarious primary parasitoid of cochineal To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed instance of a cochineal parasitoid. Observations of development show early instar larvae keep their posterior end within the egg chorion, attached to an aeroscopic plate with a connection to the cochineal body wall. Late instar larvae are eventually surrounded by a membrane, likely of larval origin. Wasps then pupate in a dry air-filled chamber within the desiccated scale remains before chewing out as an adult. Both sp. and may have restricted distributions. sp. does not appear to be a member of the cochineal community in Mexico or Texas, and scant records suggest may also be restricted to the Southwestern USA.
胭脂虫是仙人掌蚧科以仙人掌为食的蚧虫的通用名称。这些 ruby 红色的昆虫包括驯化的染料昆虫。其同属物种已被引入世界各地，有些是偶然引入，成为仙人掌属仙人掌种类的害虫，有些则是有意引入，用于染料生产或害虫生物防治。在美国亚利桑那州图森市的北部索诺兰沙漠，我们研究了仙人掌上胭脂虫的天敌复合体，并鉴定出两种隐秘的天敌，一种是瓢虫捕食者，另一种是寄生蜂。（1） 这种瓢虫捕食者 与一种类似的、通常全黑的甲虫共享生态位。形态学数据、杂交试验和系统发育结果表明，这种黑色甲虫是 属中一个独特的、未描述的物种，具有罕见的斑点表型，外观与 相似。黑色和斑点形态之间的杂交试验表明，斑点形态是作为单基因座显性等位基因遗传的。（2） 在胭脂虫的纯培养物中饲养这种蚁状寄生蜂（跳小蜂科）表明，它是胭脂虫的半群居初级寄生蜂。据我们所知，这是胭脂虫寄生蜂的首个已证实实例。发育观察表明，早期幼虫将后端留在卵壳内，附着在与胭脂虫体壁相连的气镜板上。晚期幼虫最终被一层可能源自幼虫的膜包围。然后，黄蜂在干燥的、充满空气的腔室中化蛹，该腔室位于干燥的蚧虫残骸内，之后成虫破壳而出。 和 可能都有分布受限的情况。 似乎不是墨西哥或德克萨斯州胭脂虫群落的成员，稀少的记录表明 也可能仅限于美国西南部。
