Tracking the role of alternative prey in soybean aphid predation by Orius insidiosus: a molecular approach.
Mol Ecol
; 16(20): 4390-400, 2007 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17784913
ABSTRACT
The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines (Hemiptera Aphididae), is a pest of soybeans in Asia, and in recent years has caused extensive damage to soybeans in North America. Within these agroecosystems, generalist predators form an important component of the assemblage of natural enemies, and can exert significant pressure on prey populations. These food webs are complex and molecular gut-content analyses offer nondisruptive approaches for examining trophic linkages in the field. We describe the development of a molecular detection system to examine the feeding behaviour of Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera Anthocoridae) upon soybean aphids, an alternative prey item, Neohydatothrips variabilis (Thysanoptera Thripidae), and an intraguild prey species, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera Coccinellidae). Specific primer pairs were designed to target prey and were used to examine key trophic connections within this soybean food web. In total, 32% of O. insidiosus were found to have preyed upon A. glycines, but disproportionately high consumption occurred early in the season, when aphid densities were low. The intensity of early season predation indicates that O. insidiosus are important biological control agents of A. glycines, although data suggest that N. variabilis constitute a significant proportion of the diet of these generalist predators. No Orius were found to contain DNA of H. axyridis, suggesting intraguild predation upon these important late-season predators during 2005 was low. In their entirety, these results implicate O. insidiosus as a valuable natural enemy of A. glycines in this soybean agroecosystem.
Buscar no Google
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
2_ODS3
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Afídeos
/
Comportamento Predatório
/
Glycine max
/
Heterópteros
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Ecol
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article