Entomological Science (2007) 10, 323-331

Sepideh Tahriri, Ali A. Talebi, Yaghoub Fathipour and Abbas A. Zamani (2007)
Host stage preference, functional response and mutual interference of Aphidius matricariae (Hym.: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) on Aphis fabae (Hom.: Aphididae)
Entomological Science 10 (4), 323-331
Abstract: Host stage preference, functional response and mutual interference of Aphidius matricariae (Haliday) (Hym.: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), parasitoid of the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hom.: Aphididae) were investigated in a growth chamber at a temperature of 25°C, 65% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16 h light : 8 h dark on the PP8 variety of sugar beet. Nicholson's model and linear regression were used to determine per capita searching efficiency and interference coefficient, respectively. The highest parasitism percentage was observed on the third instar nymphs of A. fabae in both choice and no-choice preference tests. There was significant difference between rates of parasitism on different stages of A. fabae (P < 0.01). Using logistic regression, a type II functional response was determined for A. matricariae. The Holling and Rogers models were used for estimating searching efficiency (a) and handling time (T_h). The data was fitted by the Rogers equation better than by the Holling disc equation based on the R² values. The estimated values of searching efficiency and handling time were 0.040 ± 0.013/h and 3.439 ± 0.383 h, respectively. The per capita searching efficiency decreased significantly from 0.272 to 0.139 as parasitoid densities increased from one to five. Therefore, different host-parasitoid ratios could affect the efficacy of A. matricariae.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ali Asghar Talebi, Yaghoub Fathipour

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aphis fabae	Beet/sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris)
Aphidius matricariae (parasitoid)	Aphis fabae	Beet/sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris)