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Figs. 1–16 in Diversity and host associations of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in the farmlands of western Iran

Figs. 1–16. Head and mouthparts (females). 1 – Adialytus ambiguus (Haliday, 1834); 2 – Aphidius colemani Viereck, 1912; 3 – Aphidius eadyi Starý, Gonzalez & Hall, 1980; 4 – Aphidius funebris Mackauer, 1961; 5 – Aphidius matricariae Haliday, 1834; 6 – Aphidius popovi Starý, 1978; 7 – Aphidius setiger (Mackauer, 1961); 8 – Aphidius transcaspicus Telenga, 1958; 9 – Diaeretiella rapae (M'Intosh, 1855); 10 – Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall, 1896); 11 – Praon barbatum Mackauer, 1959; 12 – Praon exsoletum (Nees, 1811); 13 – Praon gallicum Starý, 1971; 14 – Praon cf. necans Mackauer, 1959; 15 – Praon pubescens Starý, 1961; 16 – Praon volucre (Haliday, 1833).

Figs. 17–25 in Diversity and host associations of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in the farmlands of western Iran

Figs. 17–25. Mesoscutum (females). 17 – Aphidius eadyi Starý, Gonzalez & Hall, 1980; 18 – Binodoxys heraclei (Haliday, 1833); 19 – Praon barbatum Mackauer, 1959; 20 – Praon exsoletum (Nees, 1811); 21 – Praon gallicum Starý, 1971; 22 – Praon cf. necans Mackauer, 1959; 23 – Praon pubescens Starý, 1961; 24 – Praon volucre (Haliday, 1833); 25 – Praon yomenae Takada, 1968.

Figs. 64–75 in Diversity and host associations of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in the farmlands of western Iran

Figs. 64–75. Propodeum (females). 64 – Adialytus ambiguus (Haliday, 1834); 65 – Aphidius arvensis (Starý, 1960); 66 – Diaeretiella rapae (M'Intosh, 1855); 67 – Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay & Eady, 1978; 68 – Pauesia antennata (Mukerji, 1950); 69 – Praon barbatum Mackauer, 1959; 70 – Praon exsoletum (Nees, 1811) 71 – Praon gallicum Starý, 1971; 72 – Praon cf. necans Mackauer, 1959; 73 – Praon pubescens Starý, 1961; 74 – Praon volucre (Haliday, 1833); 75 – Praon yomenae Takada, 1968.

Figs. 92–95 in Diversity and host associations of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in the farmlands of western Iran

Figs. 92–95. Lateral aspect of petiole. 92 – Aphidius colemani Viereck, 1912; 93 – Aphidius ervi Haliday, 1834; 94 – Aphidius funebris Mackauer, 1961; 95 – Aphidius transcaspicus Telenga, 1958.

opencc-zeroApr 2020View details →

Data from: Parasitoids as drivers of symbiont diversity in an insect host

Immune systems have repeatedly diversified in response to parasite diversity. Many animals have outsourced part of their immune defence to defensive symbionts, which should be affected by similar evolutionary pressures as the host's own immune system. Protective symbionts provide efficient and specific protection and respond to changing selection pressure by parasites. Here, we use the aphid Aphis fabae, its protective symbiont Hamiltonella defensa and its parasitoid Lysiphlebus fabarum to test whether parasite diversity can maintain diversity in protective symbionts. We exposed aphid populations with the same initial symbiont composition to parasitoid populations that differed in their diversity. As expected, single parasitoid genotypes mostly favoured a single symbiont that was most protective against that particular parasitoid, while multiple symbionts persisted in aphids exposed to more diverse parasitoid populations, which in turn affected aphid population density and rates of parasitism. Parasite diversity may be crucial to maintaining symbiont diversity in nature.

opencc-zeroJan 2020View details →

Learning‐induced switching costs in a parasitoid can maintain diversity of host aphid phenotypes although biocontrol is destabilized under abiotic stress

Aphid populations frequently include phenotypes that are resistant to parasitism by hymenopterous parasitoid wasps, which is often attributed to the presence of 'protective' facultative endosymbionts residing in aphid tissues, particularly Hamiltonella defensa. In field conditions, under parasitoid pressure, the observed coexistence of aphids with and without protective symbionts cannot be explained by their difference in fitness alone. Using the cereal aphid Rhopalosiphum padi as a model, we propose an alternative mechanism whereby parasitoids are more efficient at finding common phenotypes of aphid and experience a fitness cost when switching to the less common phenotype. We construct a model based on delay differential equations and parameterise and validate the model with values within the ranges obtained from experimental studies. We then use it to explore possible effects on system dynamics under conditions of environmental stress, using our existing data on the effects of drought stress in crops as an example. We show the 'switching penalty' incurred by parasitoids leads to stable coexistence of aphids with and without H. defensa and provides a potential mechanism for maintaining phenotypic diversity amongst host organisms. We show that drought-induced reduction in aphid development time has little impact. However, greater reduction in fecundity on droughted plants of symbiont-protected aphids can cause insect population cycles when the system would be stable in the absence of drought stress. The stabilising effect of the increased efficiency in dealing with more commonly encountered host phenotypes is applicable to a broad range of consumer-resource systems and could explain stable coexistence in competitive environments. The loss of stable coexistence when drought has different effects on the competing aphid phenotypes highlights the importance of scenario testing when considering biocontrol for pest management.

opencc-zeroFeb 2024View details →

Data for: Does parasitoid species diversity promote protective symbiont diversity?

How does diversity in nature come about? One factor contributing to this diversity are species interactions; diversity on one trophic level can shape diversity on lower or higher trophic levels. For example, parasite diversity enhances host immune diversity. Protective symbionts mediate host resistance and are therefore also engaged in reciprocal selection with their host's parasites. Here, we applied experimental evolution in a well-known symbiont-aphid-parasitoid system to study whether parasitoid diversity contributes to maintaining symbiont diversity. We used caged populations of black bean aphids (Aphis fabae), containing uninfected individuals and individuals infected with different strains of the bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa, which protects aphids against parasitoids. Over multiple generations, these populations were exposed to three different species of parasitoid wasps (Aphidius colemani, Binodoxys acalephae, or Lysiphlebus fabarum), simultaneous or sequential mixtures of these species, or no wasps. Surprisingly, we observed little selection for H. defensa in most treatments, even when it clearly provided protection against a fatal parasitoid infection. This seemed to be caused by high induced costs of resistance: aphids surviving parasitoid attacks suffered an extreme reduction in fitness. In marked contrast to previous studies looking at the effect of different genotypes of a single parasitoid species, we found little evidence for a diversifying effect of multiple parasitoid species on symbiont diversity in hosts.

zenodo36/100

Diversity of parasitoid wasps (Insecta, Hymenoptera) in oilseed rape fields in Serbia

Oilseed rape is an important crop grown worldwide and used for various purposes, including oil extraction and animal feed. In Europe, there are six major pest species and several other minor pests that can significantly affect oilseed rape production, requiring growers to effectively control them in order to ensure crop yield. The host-parasitoid complexes of these pests have been studied in detail and recorded mainly in western, central and northern Europe. As an abundant source of pollen and nectar, oilseed rape may also be attractive to other parasitoids that do not have direct trophic interactions with oilseed rape pest species. The aim of this study is to fill the knowledge gap regarding the wider parasitoid community in oilseed rape fields, particularly in southern Europe. During the two-year study, a total of 3135 specimens of primary and secondary parasitoids were sampled, of which 2855 were found in oilseed rape fields and 280 in semi-natural habitats. We found 153 taxa, of which 119 were found in oilseed rape fields and 87 in semi-natural habitats. We identified 31 genera (33 species) as parasitoids of oilseed rape pests, 54 genera (97 species) parasitising non-pest species and 10 genera (23 species) as possible parasitoids of oilseed rape pests. This study shows that the parasitoid community in oilseed rape fields is very diverse and that includes parasitoids of both oilseed rape pest and non-pest species.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2023View details →

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

Bottom-up effect of host protective symbionts on parasitoid diversity: Limited evidence from two field experiments

1. Protective symbionts can provide effective and specific protection to their hosts. This protection can differ between different symbiont strains with each strain providing protection against certain components of the parasite and pathogen community their host faces. Protective symbionts are especially well known from aphids where, among other functions, they provide protection against different parasitoid wasps. However, most of the evidence for this protection comes from laboratory experiments. 2. Our aim was to understand how consistent protection is across different symbiont strains under natural field conditions and whether symbiont diversity enhanced the species diversity of colonizing parasitoids, as could be expected from the specificity of their protection. 3. We used experimental colonies of the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae, to investigate symbiont conferred protection under natural field conditions over two seasons. Colonies differed only in their symbiont composition, carrying either no symbionts, a single strain of the protective symbiont Hamiltonella defensa, or a mixture of three H. defensa strains. These aphid colonies were exposed to natural parasitoid communities in the field. Subsequently, we determined the parasitoids hatched from each aphid colony. 4. The evidence for a protective effect of H. defensa was limited and inconsistent between years, and aphid colonies harboring multiple symbiont strains did not support a more diverse parasitoid community. Instead, parasitoid diversity tended to be highest in the absence of H. defensa. 5. Symbiont conferred protection, although a strong and repeatable effect under laboratory conditions, may not always cause the predicted bottom-up effects under natural conditions in the field.

opencc-zeroMay 2024View details →

Forest structure and heterogeneity increase diversity and alter the composition of host-parasitoid networks

Antagonistic host-parasitoid interactions can be quantified using bipartite and meta networks, which have the potential to reveal how habitat structural elements relate to this important ecosystem function. Here, we analysed the host-parasitoid interactions of cavity-nesting bees and wasps, as well as their abundance, diversity, and species richness with forest structural elements from 127 forest research plots in southwestern Germany. We found that parasitoid abundance, diversity, and species richness all increase with host abundance, a potential mediator between parasitoids and forest structure. Both parasitoid abundance and diversity increased with stand structural complexity, possibly mediated by the abundance of hosts. Additionally, parasitoid abundance increased with increasing standing deadwood and herb cover. The bipartite networks of host-parasitoid interactions showed higher connectance with increasing standing deadwood, herb cover, and host abundance. Analyses of interactions within the host-parasitoid metanetwork revealed that increasing host abundance and decreasing canopy cover diversify the suites of interactions present at the plot level. These results demonstrate that forest structural elements can improve the stability and resilience of host-parasitoid networks by promoting parasitoids and diversifying interactions in ecological networks.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Delimiting the cryptic diversity and host preferences of Sycophila parasitoid wasps associated with oak galls using phylogenomic data

Cryptic species diversity is a major challenge for the species-rich community of parasitoids attacking oak gall wasps due to a high degree of sexual dimorphism, morphological plasticity, small size, and poorly known biology. As such, we know very little about the number of species present, nor the evolutionary forces responsible for generating this diversity. One hypothesis is that trait diversity in the gall wasps, including the morphology of the galls they induce, has evolved in response to selection imposed by the parasitoid community, with reciprocal selection driving diversification of the parasitoids. Using a rare, continental-scale data set of Sycophila parasitoid wasps reared from 44 species of cynipid galls from 18 species of oak across the US, we combined mitochondrial DNA barcodes, Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs), morphological, and natural history data to delimit putative species. Using these results, we generate the first large-scale assessment of ecological specialization and host association in this species-rich group, with implications for evolutionary ecology and biocontrol. We find most Sycophila target specific subsets of available cynipid host galls with similar morphologies, and generally attack larger galls. Our results suggest that parasitoid wasps such as Sycophila have adaptations allowing them to exploit particular host trait combinations, while hosts with contrasting traits are resistant to attack. These findings support the tritrophic niche concept for the structuring of plant-herbivore-parasitoid communities.