The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study

Honeydew is a sugar-rich resource excreted by many hemipteran species and is a key food source for other insect species such as ants and parasitoid wasps. Here, we evaluated the nutritional value of 14 honeydews excreted by 13 aphid species for the generalist aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tena, Alejandro, Senft, Matthias, Desneux, Nicolas, Dregni, Jonathan, Heimpel, George E.
Formato: article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2019
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6244
_version_ 1855032392428814336
author Tena, Alejandro
Senft, Matthias
Desneux, Nicolas
Dregni, Jonathan
Heimpel, George E.
author_browse Desneux, Nicolas
Dregni, Jonathan
Heimpel, George E.
Senft, Matthias
Tena, Alejandro
author_facet Tena, Alejandro
Senft, Matthias
Desneux, Nicolas
Dregni, Jonathan
Heimpel, George E.
author_sort Tena, Alejandro
collection ReDivia
description Honeydew is a sugar-rich resource excreted by many hemipteran species and is a key food source for other insect species such as ants and parasitoid wasps. Here, we evaluated the nutritional value of 14 honeydews excreted by 13 aphid species for the generalist aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes to test a series of hypotheses concerning variation in the nutritional value of honeydew. There was a positive correlation between the body sugar content of honeydew-fed parasitoids and their longevity. This information is valuable for biological control researchers because it demonstrates that the nutritional state of honeydew-fed parasitoids in the wild can indicate their fitness, independently of the honeydew source they have fed on. Although the carbohydrate content and longevity of L. testaceipes differed greatly among the different honeydews, we did not find a significant effect of aphid or host plant phylogeny on these traits. This result suggests that honeydew is evolutionarily labile and may be particularly subject to ecological selection pressures. This becomes apparent when considering host aphid suitability: Schizaphis graminum, one of the most suitable and commonly used hosts of L. testaceipes, produced honeydew of the poorest quality for the parasitoid whereas Uroleucon sonchi, one of the few aphids tested that cannot be parasitized by L. testaceipes, excreted the honeydew with the highest nutritional value. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that hemipterans are subject to selection pressure to minimize honeydew quality for the parasitoids that attack them.
format article
id ReDivia6244
institution Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
record_format dspace
spelling ReDivia62442025-04-25T14:46:38Z The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study Tena, Alejandro Senft, Matthias Desneux, Nicolas Dregni, Jonathan Heimpel, George E. Honeydew is a sugar-rich resource excreted by many hemipteran species and is a key food source for other insect species such as ants and parasitoid wasps. Here, we evaluated the nutritional value of 14 honeydews excreted by 13 aphid species for the generalist aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes to test a series of hypotheses concerning variation in the nutritional value of honeydew. There was a positive correlation between the body sugar content of honeydew-fed parasitoids and their longevity. This information is valuable for biological control researchers because it demonstrates that the nutritional state of honeydew-fed parasitoids in the wild can indicate their fitness, independently of the honeydew source they have fed on. Although the carbohydrate content and longevity of L. testaceipes differed greatly among the different honeydews, we did not find a significant effect of aphid or host plant phylogeny on these traits. This result suggests that honeydew is evolutionarily labile and may be particularly subject to ecological selection pressures. This becomes apparent when considering host aphid suitability: Schizaphis graminum, one of the most suitable and commonly used hosts of L. testaceipes, produced honeydew of the poorest quality for the parasitoid whereas Uroleucon sonchi, one of the few aphids tested that cannot be parasitized by L. testaceipes, excreted the honeydew with the highest nutritional value. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that hemipterans are subject to selection pressure to minimize honeydew quality for the parasitoids that attack them. 2019-05-15T10:37:43Z 2019-05-15T10:37:43Z 2018 article Tena, A., Senft, M., Desneux, N., Dregni, J. et Heimpel, G. E. (2018). The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study. Basic and Applied Ecology, 29, 55-68. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6244 10.1016/j.baae.2018.04.003 en Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ electronico
spellingShingle Tena, Alejandro
Senft, Matthias
Desneux, Nicolas
Dregni, Jonathan
Heimpel, George E.
The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title_full The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title_fullStr The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title_full_unstemmed The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title_short The influence of aphid-produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state: A comparative study
title_sort influence of aphid produced honeydew on parasitoid fitness and nutritional state a comparative study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6244
work_keys_str_mv AT tenaalejandro theinfluenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT senftmatthias theinfluenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT desneuxnicolas theinfluenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT dregnijonathan theinfluenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT heimpelgeorgee theinfluenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT tenaalejandro influenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT senftmatthias influenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT desneuxnicolas influenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT dregnijonathan influenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy
AT heimpelgeorgee influenceofaphidproducedhoneydewonparasitoidfitnessandnutritionalstateacomparativestudy