Evolutionary Applications (2012) 5, 481-488

Ashraf Tayeh, Arnaud Estoup, Guillaume Laugier, Anne Loiseau, Julie Turgeon, Stefan Toepfer and Benoit Facon (2012)
Evolution in biocontrol strains: insight from the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis
Evolutionary Applications 5 (5), 481-488
Abstract: After being used as a biocontrol agent against aphids for decades without harmful consequences, the Asian harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis has suddenly become an invasive pest on a worldwide scale. We investigate the impact of captive breeding on several traits of this ladybird such as genetic diversity, fecundity, survival and pathogen resistance. We conducted an experiment in the laboratory to compare the fecundity and the susceptibility to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana of wild and biocontrol adults of H. axyridis. We compiled these new findings with already published data. Altogether, our findings suggest that mass rearing of biological control agents may strongly impact genetic diversity and life-history traits. We discuss how such changes may subsequently affect the fitness of biological control strains in natural environments.
(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): Benoît Facon, Stefan Toepfer

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Harmonia axyridis (predator)