European Journal of Entomology (2016) 113, 37-43

Juliana Durán Prieto, Vincenzo Trotta, Paolo Fanti, Cristina Castañé and Donatella Battaglia (2016)
Predation by Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae) on Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae): Influence of prey age/size and predator's intraspecific interactions
European Journal of Entomology 113, 37-43
Abstract: Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important predator of pests of horticultural crops and here its ability as a predator of Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is addressed for the first time. The percentage predation of the different aphid instars and the number partially consumed were studied. Our results, obtained using choice and no-choice tests, revealed that M. pygmaeus caught and consumed more young than later instars of A. pisum, which confirms results of previous studies using other species of aphids. We also studied the interactions between predators (male/female) foraging in the same patch. When the prey/predator ratio is kept constant at 10 : 1 the average percentage of aphids completely consumed by individual females or males does not change with increase in the number of foraging predators. However, the number of partially consumed aphids decreased when females shared the same patch. In contrast, there was an increase in the number of aphids partially consumed when two males shared the same patch. The results were discussed in terms of potential predator foraging strategies since intraspecific competition is a key factor modulating the dynamics of prey-predator systems.
(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): Juliana Durán Prieto, Donatella Battaglia, Vincenzo Trotta, Cristina Castañe

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.
	Acyrthosiphon pisum
Macrolophus pygmaeus (predator)	Acyrthosiphon pisum