The ladybird and the green lacewing have shown potential for use in augmentative biological control of mealybug pests in greenhouse crops. In the context of combining these predators within an integrated pest management system, the risk of negative intraguild interactions between both predators was evaluated in a laboratory setting. Different life stages of either predator were confronted in petri dish arenas containing a leaf, and after 24 h the incidence and direction of intraguild predation (IGP) was recorded for each combination. The effect of adding nymphs or eggs as extraguild prey on the level of IGP was also studied. IGP was frequently observed between the two predator species and was asymmetrical in favour of in most cases. The presence of extraguild prey reduced the number of IGP events between the predators to a similar extent. The relevance of the observed intraguild interactions for the combined use of these predators in protected cultivation is discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12070655 | DOI Listing |
Insects
January 2025
Research Centre for Green Prevention and Control Technology of Forestry Pest, College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China.
The ladybirds and are important biocontrol agents for the small walnut aphid , a key walnut pest. outbreaks occur in walnut orchards, and walnut yields have declined. Intraguild predation (IGP) is prevalent among natural enemies that coexist in shared habitats and prey upon the same extraguild prey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcology
January 2025
Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
How consumer diversity determines consumption efficiency is a central issue in ecology. In the context of predation and biological control, this relationship concerns predator diversity and predation efficiency. Reduced predation efficiency can result from different predator taxa eating each other in addition to their common prey (interference due to intraguild predation).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMar Environ Res
January 2025
Estación de Fotobiología Playa Unión (EFPU), Casilla de Correos 15, 9103, Rawson, Chubut, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina.
Plankton communities are subjected to multiple global change drivers; however, it is unknown how the interplay between them deviates from predictions based on single-driver studies, in particular when trophic interactions are explicitly considered. We investigated how simultaneous manipulation of temperature, pH, nutrient availability and solar radiation quality affects the carbon transfer from phytoplankton to herbivorous protists and their potential consequences for ecosystem functioning. Our results showed that multiple interacting global-change drivers reduced the photosynthetic (gross primary production-to-electron transport rates ratios, from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcol Appl
January 2025
Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Livestock grazing and trampling have been shown to reduce arthropod populations. Among arthropods, defoliating lepidopterans are particularly important for their impact on trees, the keystone structures of agroforestry systems. This study investigates the impact of livestock on the community of defoliating lepidopterans in agroforestry systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.
The harlequin ladybird, , is a predatory beetle used globally to control pests such as aphids and scale insects. Originating from East Asia, this species has become highly invasive since its introduction in the late 19th century to Europe and North America, posing a threat to local biodiversity. Intraguild predation is hypothesized to drive the success of this invasive species, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.
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