RT article
T1 Aphid predators in citrus crops: the least voracious predators are the most effective
A1 Bouvet, Juan Pedro Raúl
A1 Urbaneja, Alberto
A1 Monzó, César
K1 Conservation biological control
K1 Exclusion
K1 Intra-guild interactions
K1 H10  Pests of plants
K1 Citrus
K1 Agroecosystems
AB Rich and abundant predator complexes are frequently associated with aphids in perennial agroecosystems. The ability ofthese predators to successfully suppress aphid populations is nevertheless highly variable. The development of operativeconservation biological control strategies is mostly hindered by the lack of knowledge of the specific roles of the aphidophagousassemblage components, their intra-guild relationships and the predatory attributes that chiefly determine theireffectiveness. The role of predation in the biological control of aphids in perennial agroecosystems was assessed throughexclusion experiments in aphid infested citrus crops. Important predator attributes such as recruitment, aphid consumptionrates, and foraging strategies were related to their efficacy. Predation greatly affected aphid colony phenology as well as size.Predators with lower aphid consumption rates (Micro-coccinellid species and Cecidomyiidae) were revealed to be the mostefficient aphidophaga. These predators encountered aphid colonies at earlier colony stages and significantly reduced theirpopulation growth rates. Later more voracious aphidophaga groups (Chrysopidae and Macro-coccinellids) did not presenteffective biological control of the colonies. Contrarily to what was widely believed, the less voracious aphidophaga groupssuch as the Micro-coccinellids and Cecidomyiids are probably the groups who are mostly responsible for aphid suppression.Future conservation biological control studies in this crop should therefore chiefly focus on these groups.
PB Springer Verlag
SN 1612-4758
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6639
UL http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6639
LA en
NO Bouvet, J.P.R., Urbaneja, A. & Monzó, C. (2021) Aphid predators in citrus crops: the least voracious predators are the most effective. J Pest Sci 94, 321–333.
DS MINDS@UW
RD Aug 8, 2022