Host-adapted parasitoids in biological control: does source matter?

It has been hypothesized that the success of a biological control introduction is, in part, dependent on the ability of the control agent to become established in its new environment or to its new population of hosts through local adaptation. Despite this, few studies have investigated the influence of the recent coevolutionary history of pest species and natural enemies on the efficacy of biological control agents, especially for agents that are mass-reared for release in agriculture. We investigate the evolutionary potential of a biological control agent Aphidius ervi to adapt to a key pest species, the foxglove aphid Aulacorthum solani, through components essential to the evolution of parasitoid virulence.