Abstract
In China, two invasive pests, Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 (Gennadius) and Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), often co-occur with the native pest, Aphis gossypii (Glover), on plants of Malvaceae and Cucurbitaceae. All three are preyed on by the native ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas); however, the native predator might be expected to prefer native prey to the exotic ones due to a shared evolutionary past. In order to clarify whether the presence of native prey affected the consumption of these two invasive species by the native predator, field-cage experiments were conducted. A duplex qPCR was used to simultaneously detect both non-native pests within the gut of the predator. H. axyridis readily accepted both invasive prey species, but preferred B. tabaci. With all three prey species available, H. axyridis consumption of B. tabaci was 39.3±2.2% greater than consumption of F. occidentalis. The presence of A. gossypii reduced (by 59.9% on B. tabaci, and by 60.6% on F. occidentalis), but did not stop predation on the two exotic prey when all three were present. The consumption of B. tabaci was similar whether it was alone or together with A. gossypii. However, the presence of aphids reduced predation on the invasive thrips. Thus, some invasive prey may be incorporated into the prey range of a native generalist predator even in the presence of preferred native prey.
Highlights
Problems associated with biological invasions, both environmental and economic, have grown exponentially over the past decades [1]
A colony of Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 ( Bt) was started from individuals collected on field-grown cabbage in the outdoor plots of the institute 5 years ago, and maintained on tomato plants
Adult ladybirds readily attacked both invasive species in the presence of Ag: up to 80% of predator guts contained Bt and 60% contained Frankliniella occidentalis (Fo), without a significant temporal trend (Bt: P = 0.393, Fo: P = 0.729; Fig 1A2 and 1B2)
Summary
Problems associated with biological invasions, both environmental and economic, have grown exponentially over the past decades [1]. Invasive species threaten natural habitats and can affect native organisms in various ways [2] and at different levels of biological organization [3,4] typically because predation pressure on the invader from natural enemies is relaxed [5], as well as due to the potential disruption of trophic interactions between local prey and local enemies [6]. The activity of native natural enemies, in the form of biological control, is usually considered a powerful. Native Predator Preys on Alien Pests in the Presence of a Native Prey component of invasive species management, and 'classical' biological control, the use of exotic, specialist natural enemies to control exotic pests, has a long history [3]. Biological control using exotic generalist natural enemies, is generally not advisable because they may pose a threat to non-target native species [3]. Native generalist predators can play an important role in the control of new invaders [3,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
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