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Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach

Intraguild predation (IGP) takes place when natural enemies that use similar resources attack each other. The impact of IGP on biological control can be significant if the survival of natural enemy species is disrupted. In the present study, we assessed whether Geocoris punctipes (Hemiptera: Lygaeid...

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Autores principales: Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción, Ramirez-Romero, Ricardo, Cicero, Lizette, Michel-Rios, Claudia, Desneux, Nicolas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24260452
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080679
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author Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción
Ramirez-Romero, Ricardo
Cicero, Lizette
Michel-Rios, Claudia
Desneux, Nicolas
author_facet Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción
Ramirez-Romero, Ricardo
Cicero, Lizette
Michel-Rios, Claudia
Desneux, Nicolas
author_sort Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción
collection PubMed
description Intraguild predation (IGP) takes place when natural enemies that use similar resources attack each other. The impact of IGP on biological control can be significant if the survival of natural enemy species is disrupted. In the present study, we assessed whether Geocoris punctipes (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) engages in IGP on Eretmocerus eremicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) while developing on whitefly nymphs of Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). In choice and non-choice tests, we exposed G. punctipes to parasitized and non-parasitized whitefly nymphs. We found that G. punctipes does practice IGP on E. eremicus. However, choice tests assessing G. punctipes consumption revealed a significant preference for non-parasitized T. vaporariorum nymphs. Subsequently, we investigated whether E. eremicus females modify their foraging behavior when exposed to conditions involving IGP risk. To assess this, we analyzed wasp foraging behavior under the following treatments: i) whitefly nymphs only (control = C), ii) whitefly nymphs previously exposed to a predator ( = PEP) and, iii) whitefly nymphs and presence of a predator ( = PP). In non-choice tests we found that E. eremicus did not significantly modify its number of attacks, attack duration, oviposition duration, or behavior sequences. However, E. eremicus oviposited significantly more eggs in the PEP treatment. In the PP treatment, G. punctipes also preyed upon adult E. eremicus wasps, significantly reducing their number of ovipositions and residence time. When the wasps were studied under choice tests, in which they were exposed simultaneously to all three treatments, the number of attacks and frequency of selection were similar under all treatments. These results indicate that under IGP risk, E. eremicus maintains several behavioral traits, but can also increase its number of ovipositions in the presence of IG-predator cues. We discuss these findings in the context of population dynamics and biological control.
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spelling pubmed-38340952013-11-20 Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción Ramirez-Romero, Ricardo Cicero, Lizette Michel-Rios, Claudia Desneux, Nicolas PLoS One Research Article Intraguild predation (IGP) takes place when natural enemies that use similar resources attack each other. The impact of IGP on biological control can be significant if the survival of natural enemy species is disrupted. In the present study, we assessed whether Geocoris punctipes (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) engages in IGP on Eretmocerus eremicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) while developing on whitefly nymphs of Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). In choice and non-choice tests, we exposed G. punctipes to parasitized and non-parasitized whitefly nymphs. We found that G. punctipes does practice IGP on E. eremicus. However, choice tests assessing G. punctipes consumption revealed a significant preference for non-parasitized T. vaporariorum nymphs. Subsequently, we investigated whether E. eremicus females modify their foraging behavior when exposed to conditions involving IGP risk. To assess this, we analyzed wasp foraging behavior under the following treatments: i) whitefly nymphs only (control = C), ii) whitefly nymphs previously exposed to a predator ( = PEP) and, iii) whitefly nymphs and presence of a predator ( = PP). In non-choice tests we found that E. eremicus did not significantly modify its number of attacks, attack duration, oviposition duration, or behavior sequences. However, E. eremicus oviposited significantly more eggs in the PEP treatment. In the PP treatment, G. punctipes also preyed upon adult E. eremicus wasps, significantly reducing their number of ovipositions and residence time. When the wasps were studied under choice tests, in which they were exposed simultaneously to all three treatments, the number of attacks and frequency of selection were similar under all treatments. These results indicate that under IGP risk, E. eremicus maintains several behavioral traits, but can also increase its number of ovipositions in the presence of IG-predator cues. We discuss these findings in the context of population dynamics and biological control. Public Library of Science 2013-11-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3834095/ /pubmed/24260452 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080679 Text en © 2013 Velasco-Hernández et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Velasco-Hernández, María Concepción
Ramirez-Romero, Ricardo
Cicero, Lizette
Michel-Rios, Claudia
Desneux, Nicolas
Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title_full Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title_fullStr Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title_full_unstemmed Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title_short Intraguild Predation on the Whitefly Parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the Generalist Predator Geocoris punctipes: A Behavioral Approach
title_sort intraguild predation on the whitefly parasitoid eretmocerus eremicus by the generalist predator geocoris punctipes: a behavioral approach
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24260452
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080679
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