Abstract
• Honeydew and plant guttation are the main plant-derived food sources in tomato crops. • Honeydew improves the fitness and performance of the parasitoid Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris. • Tomato guttation does not affect the biological parameters of Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris . • Chemical analyses demonstrated that tomato guttation is poor in carbohydrates and proteins. Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) poses a significant threat to tomato crops worldwide. Following its detection in the Mediterranean basin, considerable efforts have been made to develop biological control programs against this pest. The larval parasitoid Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris Marsh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is widely distributed in northeastern Spain and has shown promise as a natural enemy in this region. Recent studies have demonstrated that access to floral nectar can improve the biological parameters of this parasitic wasp. However, the effects of other plant-derived food sources available in tomato crops, such as plant guttation and honeydew, have yet to be explored. This study assessed the impact of plant guttation and the honeydew of two phloem-feeding insects, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleurodidae), on the fitness (longevity and fecundity) and performance (parasitism and sex ratio) of D. gelechiidivoris under controlled laboratory conditions. Our results demonstrated that both honeydews enhanced the fitness and performance of this parasitoid, while tomato plant guttation did not have an effect on its fitness and negatively impacted parasitism. These findings highlight honeydew as a potential food source in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Further research is recommended to explore the specific chemical composition of tomato plant guttation and its broader effects on beneficial insects in tomato systems.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Honeydew from Myzus persicae enhanced parasitoid fitness and performance.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- honeydewse0
- Interactor
- parasitoide0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- fitness and performancee0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both honeydews enhanced the fitness and performance of this parasitoid”
t0“tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Honeydew from Bemisia tabaci enhanced parasitoid fitness and performance.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- honeydewse0
- Interactor
- parasitoide0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- fitness and performancee0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both honeydews enhanced the fitness and performance of this parasitoid”
t0“tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato guttation did not affect parasitoid fitness.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- tomato plant guttatione0
- Interactor
- Dolichogenidea gelechiidivorisApanteles gelechiidivorist0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- fitnesse0
- Direction
- did not have an effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“tomato plant guttation did not have an effect on its fitness”
t0“Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato guttation negatively affected parasitoid parasitism.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- tomato plant guttatione0
- Interactor
- Dolichogenidea gelechiidivorisApanteles gelechiidivorist0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- parasitisme0
- Direction
- negatively impactede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“tomato plant guttation did not have an effect on its fitness and negatively impacted parasitism”
t0“Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato guttation was poor in carbohydrates and proteins.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Outcome
- poor in carbohydrates and proteinse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“tomato guttation is poor in carbohydrates and proteins”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors identify honeydew as a potential food source for integrated pest management.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- honeydew as a potential food source in integrated pest management (IPM) strategiese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These findings highlight honeydew as a potential food source in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies”
t0“tomato”