Two Better Than One? Potential Effects of Intraguild Predation on the Biological Control of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) by the Parasitoid Aganaspis daci (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) and the Predator Pseudoophonus rufipes (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
The use of more than one species to manage a single insect pest is a common practice among biological control programs. However, the beneficial effects of natural enemies are not always additive, which in many cases may be attributed to interspecific interactions such as intraguild predation (IGP...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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MDPI
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8855 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/1/87 |
| Summary: | The use of more than one species to manage a single insect pest is a common practice
among biological control programs. However, the beneficial effects of natural enemies are not always
additive, which in many cases may be attributed to interspecific interactions such as intraguild
predation (IGP). Herein, we investigated the potential IGP between two relevant natural enemies of
the Medfly (Ceratitis capitata), the predator Pseudoophonus rufipes and the parasitoid Aganaspis daci,
as well as the possible implications of this phenomenon in their efficiency as biocontrol agents. To
this end, we assessed their functional responses and different demographic parameters when acting
alone and together against C. capitata under laboratory conditions. Coexistence led to a switch in the
functional response of both species, from type III to type II in A. daci and the opposite in P. rufipes.
Regarding demographic parameters, coexistence resulted in higher parasitoidism and population
reduction by A. daci only at low host densities, probably due to competition pressure. In the same
circumstances, P. rufipes reduced its predatory activity, rejecting those larvae that were presumably
parasitized and causing negligible IGP. At high Medfly densities, A. daci efficiency decreased, and
the reduced encounter probability enhanced the predatory activity by P. rufipes. As a result of these
trends, Medfly population reduction reached almost 100% at all densities, which suggests an additive
effect of both natural enemies and recommends combined releases of these agents as a strategy for
the control of the Medfly. |
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