Parasitism-mediated prey selectivity in laboratory conditions and implications for biological control

Autor(es)

Moral, Rafael de Andrade ; Borges Demetrio, Clarice Garcia ; Hinde, John ; Conde Godoy, Wesley Augusto ; Fernandes, Francisco Sales

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY; v. 19, p. 67-75, MAR 2017.
• Citações Web of Science: 4

Resumo

In agroecosystems, parasitoids and predators may exert top-down regulation and predators for different reasons may avoid or give preference to parasitised prey, i.e., become an intraguild predator. The success of pest suppression with multiple natural enemies depends essentially on predatorprey dynamics and how this is affected by the interplay between predation and parasitism. We conducted a simple laboratory experiment to test whether predators distinguished parasitised prey from non-parasitised prey and to study how parasitism influenced predation. We used a host-parasitoid system, Spodoptera frugiperda and one of its generalist parasitoids, Campoletis flavicincta, and included two predators, the stinkbug Podisus nigrispinus and the earwig Euborellia annulipes. In the experiment, predators were offered a choice between non-parasitised and parasitised larvae. We observed how long it took for the predator to attack a larva, which prey was attacked first, and whether predators opted to consume the other prey after their initial attack. Our results suggest that, in general, female predators are less selective than males and predators are more likely to consume non-parasitised prey with this likelihood being directly proportional to the time taken until the first prey attack. We used statistical models to show that males opted to consume the other prey with a significantly higher probability if they attacked a parasitised larva first, while females did so with the same probability irrespective of which one they attacked first. These results highlight the importance of studies on predatorparasitoid interactions, as well as on coexistence mechanisms in agroecosystems. When parasitism mediates predator choice so that intraguild predation is avoided, natural enemy populations may be larger, thus increasing the probability of more successful biological control. (C) 2016 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/12903-8 - Modelos e métodos estatísticos para análise de dados entomológicos
• Beneficiário: Rafael de Andrade Moral
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/15253-6 - Modelagem estatística e ecológica de relações tróficas em pragas e inimigos naturais
• Beneficiário: Rafael de Andrade Moral
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Brasil - Mestrado