Agronomy (2023) 13 (2 - 943)

Zifang Qin, Mingyue Feng, Liu Zhang, Yang Ge, Xinzheng Huang and Wangpeng Shi (2023)
Parasitism potential and laboratory rearing of Psyllaephagus sp., a newly discovered parasitoid of Cacopsylla chinensis
Agronomy 13 (2 - 943)
Abstract: Psyllaephagus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a newly recognized and important parasitoid of Cacopsylla chinensis (Yang and Li) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a pest of pear orchards. Its parasitism potential and rearing were studied in the laboratory. The studies showed that the most suitable hosts were fourth- and fifth-instar nymphs of pear psyllids (C. chinensis). The development duration of Psyllaephagus sp. females and males was 15.25 ± 0.37 and 13.57 ± 0.27 days when laying eggs in fourth-instar psyllid nymphs. The wasps did not survive longer than three days when they were fed only water, while they survived about an average of 20 days (23.20 ± 1.12 for females and 19.00 ± 0.80 for males) when fed 20% honey water. The provision of honey water could thus increase adult parasitoid longevity significantly. The lifetime fecundity of Psyllaephagus sp. females was 21.60 ± 0.88. Tests of parasitoid efficiency showed that the wasp's functional response was Holling type II, with the number of hosts parasitized increasing with the host density to a maximum parasitism rate. The model suggested that a single Psyllaephagus sp. female could parasitize a maximum of 13.66 nymphs per day. The mutual interference of foraging Psyllaephagus sp. females occurred at high parasitoid densities. Psyllaephagus sp. has potential as a biocontrol agent for use against C. chinensis.
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Database assignments for author(s): Wang-Peng Shi

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cacopsylla chinensis	Pear (Pyrus)	China (south)
	Cacopsylla chinensis	Pear (Pyrus)	China (NE)
Psyllaephagus (genus - parasitoids)	Cacopsylla chinensis	Pear (Pyrus)	China (NE)