Insects (2021) 12 (11 - 980)

Renato Ricciardi, Rossana Izzetti, Marco Romanelli, Davide Caramella, Andrea Lucchi and Giovanni Benelli (2021)
Echoentomography for assessing braconid parasitization on soft-bodied tephritid hosts
Insects 12 (11 - 980)
Abstract: Entomological approaches currently available for assessing host parasitization require dissection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or waiting for adult emergence. The first two methods are relatively fast but destructive, whereas the third one allows the emergence of the parasitoid but it is time consuming. In this framework, new diagnostic imaging tools may contribute to solve the lack of an accurate, rapid, and non-invasive approach to evaluate the parasitization of soft-bodied insects by their endoparasitoids. In this study, ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) technology, which is currently used in medical and preclinical fields, was adopted to assess the parasitization of the invasive polyphagous Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), testing 2nd and 3rd instar larvae. Parasitization assays were carried out with the solitary koinobiont endophagous parasitoid Psyttalia concolor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Opiinae). The efficacy of UHFUS-based echoentomography was compared with the classical method of dissecting the larval host under a stereomicroscope. Our results showed that the UHFUS diagnostic capability was statistically comparable with that of dissection, both on C. capitata 2nd and 3rd larvae. Overall, UHFUS-based echoentomography may be further considered as a fast, non-invasive, and effective approach to evaluate the parasitoid's ability to successfully oviposit in soft-bodied hosts.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
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Database assignments for author(s): Andrea Lucchi, Giovanni Benelli

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.
	Ceratitis capitata		Italy
Psyttalia concolor (parasitoid)	Ceratitis capitata		Italy