Characteristics of the meconia of European egg parasitoids of Halyomorpha halys

Giuseppino Sabbatini-Peverieri,Luca Madonni,Pio Federico Roversi,Claudia Benvenuti,Kim Hoelmer,Lucrezia Giovannini

doi:10.3897/jhr.77.52904

Abstract

Halyomorpha halys is a severe invasive Asian pest worldwide and classical biological control is foreseen as the most promising control method. Egg parasitoids appear to be the most important natural enemies of this pest, especially the Asian hymenopteran Trissolcus japonicus. In the invaded areas, only a few egg parasitoid species have been able to adopt H. halys as a host. Anastatus bifasciatus is the most common native egg parasitoid of H. halys in Europe, but reaches only low levels of parasitization, while several other native species are only occasionally found. Recently, adventive populations have been found both in the USA and in Europe of T. japonicus, and in Italy of a second Asian species, Trissolcus mitsukurii. Species identification based on morphological traits by specialists or by molecular analysis is a crucial step in the management of biological control programs. The ability to identify the genus or species within a narrow guild of egg parasitoids based on adult emergence holes and meconium features can be a simple and useful method to support management efforts. We present here detailed descriptions of the meconium of the most frequent parasitoid species attacking H. halys in Europe and the characteristics of their emergence holes of the adult wasps.

Highlights

Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) is an invasive stink bug native to Asia which causes significant damage in agriculture in different countries worldwide (e.g. USA, Italy, Switzerland, Georgia) (Leskey and Nielsen 2018)
Other native egg parasitoid species that are reported to attack H. halys in Europe include the scelionids Trissolcus kozlovi Ryakhovskii, Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston), Trissolcus semistriatus (Nees von Esenbeck) and Telenomus turesis Walker, all of which are reared infrequently from H. halys at low parasitism levels ranging from 0.1–0.7 % (Moraglio et al 2020)
7.72% emerged in the field prior to collection, 8.05% of the eggs hatched to produce first instar H. halys nymphs, and 23.18% eggs died without any emergence

Summary

Introduction

Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) is an invasive stink bug native to Asia which causes significant damage in agriculture in different countries worldwide (e.g. USA, Italy, Switzerland, Georgia) (Leskey and Nielsen 2018). Adventive populations of T. japonicus were recently found in Europe (Switzerland and Italy), and a second Asian egg parasitoid species, Trissolcus mitsukurii (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), was found in Italy (Sabbatini Peverieri et al 2018; Stahl et al 2019b).

Results

Conclusion