Abstract
Providing sugar resources for parasitoids is an important component of habitat management approaches to bolster biological control. We screened three flowering cover crop species, and one aphid species, for their potential to increase the longevity of the parasitoid wasp, Bracon cephi (Gahan) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), an important biological control agent of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae). We found that buckwheat and honeydew from the cereal aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), increased longevity of B. cephi females by over threefold, while longevity on sunflower and coriander was not significantly different from controls on wheat. The results suggest that incorporating buckwheat into cover crop mixes could enhance parasitoid performance. However, the finding that honeydew associated with a common aphid in wheat provides a suitable resource suggests that a better understanding of the varying quality, and spatial and temporal availability, of aphid honeydew will be a critical consideration in evaluating the potential benefits of managing floral resources for parasitoid conservation in this system.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Buckwheat increased female Bracon cephi longevity more than threefold.
- Taxon
- Wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- buckwheate0
- Interactor
- B. cephiBracon cephie0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- longevity of B. cephi femalese0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- over threefolde0
- Comparator
- controls on wheate1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Wheat Stem Sawfly”
e0“buckwheat and honeydew from the cereal aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), increased longevity of B. cephi females by over threefold”
e1“controls on wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Honeydew from Rhopalosiphum padi increased female Bracon cephi longevity more than threefold.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- honeydew from the cereal aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)e0
- Interactor
- B. cephiBracon cephie0biocontrol_agent
- Second interactor
- Rhopalosiphum padi
_Figure_1_a.jpg?width=60)
Rhopalosiphum padie0pest - Outcome
- longevity of B. cephi femalese0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- over threefolde0
- Comparator
- controls on wheate1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Figure_1_a.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
t0“Wheat Stem Sawfly”
e0“honeydew from the cereal aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), increased longevity of B. cephi females by over threefold”
e1“controls on wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Sunflower did not produce a statistically significant difference in parasitoid longevity from wheat controls.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- sunflowere0
- Outcome
- longevitye0
- Direction
- not significantly differente0
- Comparator
- controls on wheate0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Wheat Stem Sawfly”
e0“longevity on sunflower and coriander was not significantly different from controls on wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Coriander did not produce a statistically significant difference in parasitoid longevity from wheat controls.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- coriandere0
- Outcome
- longevitye0
- Direction
- not significantly differente0
- Comparator
- controls on wheate0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Wheat Stem Sawfly”
e0“longevity on sunflower and coriander was not significantly different from controls on wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest incorporating buckwheat into cover crop mixes to improve parasitoid performance.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- incorporating buckwheat into cover crop mixes could enhance parasitoid performancee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Wheat Stem Sawfly”
e0“incorporating buckwheat into cover crop mixes could enhance parasitoid performance”