| Biological characteristics of Aphidius matricariae and Praon volucre on Aphis gossypii influenced by interspecific interaction between parasitoid wasps |
| Paper ID : 1040-3IICE (R1) |
| Authors: |
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Zahra Tazerouni *1, Ali Asghar Talebi2, Yaghoub Fathipour3 1Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 2Agricultural Entomology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 3Tarbiat Modares University |
| Abstract: |
| Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is an economic pest of cucumber in greenhouse conditions. This aphid causes direct damage by sucking the sap from the plants and indirect damage by excreting honeydew and transmitting plant viruses. Biological control using aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) is one of the safe and important methods to control of aphids. Aphidius matricariae Haliday and Praon volucre (Haliday) have been commercially used for aphid management specifically against A. gossypii in greenhouses. Interspecific interaction among natural enemies to gain highest food resource and highest reproduction can influence their efficiency to control host. In this research, biological characteristics of A. matricaria and P. volucre (before and after combination) were investigated on third nymphal instars of A. gossypii on cucumber (Super Sultan variety) at 25±1°C, 60±5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 14:10 h (Light: Dark). The experiments started with 100 replications per treatment. The fecundity of parasitoid wasps (before and after combination) was studied with at least 30 replications. The interaction between parasitoid wasps on A. gossypii caused a decrease in female developmental time of A. matricariae from 15.7 days to 13.40 days but an increase for P. volucre from 20.21 days to 22.08 days, respectively. In single species experiment, survival rate (lx) in newly emerged adults of A. matricariae and P. volucre on A. gossypii were 84% and 63%, respectively, however, in interaction of both species, survival rate in newly emerged adults of A. matricariae and P. volucre decreased to 79% and 59%, respectively. Interspecific interaction between parasitoid wasps had negative effect on fecundity of A. matricariae and P. volucre. The fecundity of A. matricariae and P. volucre in single species treatment were 102.27±3.26 and 44.18±1.67 mummies, respectively, however, it decreased to 74.46±2.05 and 23.67±0.94 mummies in combination treatment, respectively. Eventually, the interspecific interaction of parasitoid wasps on A. gossypii caused a reduction in female progenies of A. matricariae and P. volucre from 71 to 61% and 44 to 41%. Our findings provide fundamental information about importance of interspecific interaction between A. matricariae and P. volucre on A. gossypii on greenhouse cucumber. These results can be used in integrated management program of A. gossypii in greenhouse conditions. |
| Keywords: |
| Life table, IPM, interference interaction, Aphis gossypii |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
