BioControl (2004) 49, 163-185

Livy Williams III and Leslie Price (2004)
A space-efficient contact toxicity bioassay for minute Hymenoptera, used to test the effects of novel and conventional insecticides on the egg parasitoids Anaphes iole and Trichogramma pretiosum
BioControl 49 (2), 163-185
Abstract: We developed and tested a novel bioassay method for assessment of contact residues of pesticides to minute Hymenoptera. This method maintained a plant-toxin-insect interface representative of natural conditions in the field or greenhouse, and was space-efficient. The procedure was useful in studies with both foliar residues and systemic uptake. Furthermore, the method was relatively straightforward, easy to setup, and inexpensive. Tests with the egg parasitoids Anaphes iole Girault (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) and Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) confirmed that this method provided consistent, repeatable assessment of concentration-response relationships for several insecticide classes. Other researchers studying pesticide effects on minute Hymenoptera might find this bioassay method helpful, especially in situations where space is limited. We discovered differential susceptibility of these parasitoids to spinosad, thiamethoxam, and oxamyl. The order of toxicity for A. iole was spinosad>thiamethoxam>oxamyl, and for T. pretiosum was thiamethoxam>spinosad>oxamyl. Our results underscored the danger of generalizing pesticide effects across even closely related insects, and demonstrated that novel `selective' insecticides are highly toxic to A. iole and T. pretiosum.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Livy Williams

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
resistance to pesticides

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Trichogramma pretiosum (parasitoid)
Anaphes iole (parasitoid)