Abstract
Aphids are major pests of cereal crops and a suite of hymenopteran primary parasitoids play an important role in regulating their populations. However, hyperparasitoids may disrupt the biocontrol services provided by primary parasitoids. As such, understanding cereal aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions is vital for a reliable parasitoid-based control of cereal aphids. For this, the ability to identify the different primary and hyperparasitoid species is necessary. Unfortunately, this is often difficult due to a lack of morphologically diagnostic features. DNA sequence-based species identification of parasitoids can overcome these hurdles. However, comprehensive DNA sequence information is lacking for many of these groups, particularly for hyperparasitoids. Here we evaluate three genes [cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S) and 18S ribosomal RNA (18S)] for their suitability to identify 24 species of primary parasitoids and 16 species of hyperparasitoids associated with European cereal aphids. To identify aphelinid primary parasitoid species and hyperparasitoids, we found 16S to be more suitable compared to COI sequences. In contrast, the Aphidiinae are best identified using COI due to better species-level resolution and a more comprehensive DNA sequence database compared to 16S. The 18S gene was better suited for group-specific identification of parasitoids, but did not provide resolution at the species level. Our results provide a DNA sequence database for cereal aphid primary parasitoids and their associated hyperparasitoids in Central Europe, which will allow further improvement of our understanding of cereal aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions in relation to aphid biological control.
Highlights
Hymenopteran endoparasitoids play an important role in biological control programmes targeting aphids and other pests in both field and greenhouse crops [1]
Three species of primary parasitoids (Aphelinus mali, Aphidius microlophii and Monoctonus crepidis) that do not parasitise cereal aphids, but can be found in cereal fields due to non-cereal aphid hosts occurring on uncultivated plants within or around cereal crops, were collected and included
Two cereal aphid parasitoid species, Aphelinus abdominalis and Aphidius colemani, which were not found in the field, were purchased from biocontrol production facilities (Sautter & Stepper GmbH Ammerbuch, Germany and Katz Biotech AG Baruth, Germany, respectively)
Summary
Hymenopteran endoparasitoids play an important role in biological control programmes targeting aphids and other pests in both field and greenhouse crops [1]. Molecular marker evaluation of European cereal aphid parasitoids scholarship provided by the University of Innsbruck for ZY. Contribution of ZT was partially supported by grant Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (III43001)
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