Capsella bursa-pastoris Is a Key Overwintering Plant for Aphids in the Mediterranean Region

Serdar Satar,Christos G Athanassiou,Işıl Özdemir,Nikos E Papanikolaou,Mehmet Karacaoğlu,Nickolas G Kavallieratos,Petr Starý,Gül Satar,Mustafa Tüfekli

doi:10.3390/insects12080744

Abstract

Simple SummaryReservoir plants are crucial for overwintering pests and their biological control agents. A long-term survey revealed that Capsella bursa-pastoris is a significant host plant, especially for aphids as well as their parasitoids and hyperparasitoids. Twenty-five aphids and eleven parasitoid species were identified on this weed. Myzus persicae and Aphis gossypii were the most commonly recorded aphid species, and Binodoxys angelicae the most frequent parasitoid. Additionally, the monthly distribution of the aphids, parasitoids, and hyperparasitoids showed that C. bursa pastoris fills the host plant gap in the absence of crops. Trophic relations within the community and the importance of C. bursa pastoris were also analyzed in this study.The reproduction of aphids depends to a great extent on their host plants, an integration that impacts on the successful expansion of overwintering populations. Therefore, a survey was conducted to evaluate the globally distributed Capsella bursa-pastoris as an overwintering host of economically important aphid species, their parasitoids and hyperparasitoids in the southern and western regions of Turkey from November to March in 2006 to 2013. During this survey, 395 samples of C. bursa-pastoris were collected with 25 aphid species recorded. Among aphids that feed on this host, Myzus persicae, Aphis gossypii, Rhopalosiphum padi, Aphis fabae, Aphis craccivora, Lipaphis erysimi, and Brevicoryne brassicae were the most frequently recorded. In total, 10,761 individual parasitoids were identified. Binodoxys angelicae, Aphidius colemani, Aphidius matricariae, Diaeretiella rapae, Ephedrus persicae, and Lysiphlebus confusus were the most abundant aphidiines that emerged from the aphids collected from C. bursa-pastoris. Alloxysta spp. (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea), Chalcidoidea (unidentified at genus level), and Dendrocerus spp. (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea) were identified as hyperparasitoids on the parasitoids. These findings indicate that C. bursa-pastoris is a key non-agricultural plant that significantly contributes to the overwintering of numerous aphids and their parasitoids, which should be given serious consideration when biological control strategies are designed.

Highlights

Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) is globally distributed, being adapted to cool, temperate and subtropical climates
The plant samples were placed in plastic containers (5 L), separating aphid species, covered with muslin and placed in a growth room at 22 ◦ C, 65% RH and 16:8 h L:D photoperiod [37]
The present research elucidates the trophic associations among host plants, aphids, parasitoids and hyperparasitoids, and the importance of C. bursa-pastoris as an overwintering host for these communities

Summary

Introduction

Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) is globally distributed, being adapted to cool, temperate and subtropical climates. (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) is globally distributed, being adapted to cool, temperate and subtropical climates It can survive under high or low temperatures, to as low as −12 ◦ C, and at different elevations, i.e., from the sea level to the high Himalayas [1]. The center of origin of C. bursa-pastoris is considered to be in Anatolia; it is an historical plant in daily life, and possible records date back to 5850–5600 BC [3]. It hosts many insect species in the Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, as well as other invertebrates in the Arachnida and Mollusca [1]. In the Aphididae (Hemiptera), over 40 species have been identified as feeding on this host [4]

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