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Food web associations and effect of trophic resources and environmental factors on parasitoids expanding their host range into non‐native hosts
Author(s) -
Murillo Pacheco Henry,
Vanlaerhoven Sherah L.,
Marcos García M. Ángeles,
Hunt David W.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12674
Subject(s) - parasitoid , biology , trophic level , host (biology) , food web , ecology , biological pest control , kairomone , parasitism , range (aeronautics) , pest analysis , abundance (ecology) , botany , materials science , composite material
Abstract Trophic interactions and environmental conditions determine the structure of food webs and the host expansion of parasitoids into novel insect hosts. In this study, we investigate plant–insect–parasitoid food web interactions, specifically the effect of trophic resources and environmental factors on the presence of the parasitoids expanding their host range after the invasion of C hrysodeixis chalcites ( E sper) ( L epidoptera: N octuidae). We also consider potential candidates for biological control of this non‐native pest. A survey of larval stages of P lusiinae ( L epidoptera: N octuidae) and their larval parasitoids was conducted in field and vegetable greenhouse crops in 2009 and 2010 in various locations of Essex and Chatham‐Kent counties in O ntario, C anada. Twenty‐one plant–host insect–host parasitoid associations were observed among T richoplusia ni ( H übner) ( L epidoptera: N octuidae), C . chalcites , and larval parasitoids in three trophic levels of interaction. C hrysodeixis chalcites , an old‐world species that had just arrived in the region, was the most common in our samples. The larval parasitoids C ampoletis sonorensis ( C ameron) ( H ymenoptera: I chneumonidae), C otesia vanessae ( R einhard), C otesia sp., M icroplitis alaskensis ( A shmead), and M eteorus rubens ( N ees) (all H ymenoptera: B raconidae) expanded their host range into C . chalcites changing the structure of the food web. C opidosoma floridanum ( A shmead) ( H ymenoptera: E ncyrtidae) was the most common parasitoid of T . ni that was not found in the invasive species. Plant species, host abundance, and agro‐ecosystem were the most common predictors for the presence of the parasitoids expanding their host range into C . chalcites . Our results indicate that C . sonorensis , C . vanessae , and C . floridanum should be evaluated for their potential use in biological control of C . chalcites and T . ni .