Abstract
Aphids are an important economic pest in protected crops and, among them, Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe is considered a key pest of the ornamental Mandevilla plant. This aphid can produce damage that can severely reduce the aesthetic and commercial value of ornamental plants. For the development of successful biological control strategies, information on prey suitability and predator’s functional response is essential. In this study, we first evaluate the suitability of A. nerii as a food source for seven commercial generalist predators, as well as their ability to suppress aphid population. The tested predator species were: Chrysoperla carnea Stephens (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), Sphaerophoria rueppellii Wiedmann (Diptera: Syrphidae), Episyrphus balteatus DeGeer (Diptera: Syrphidae), Micromus angulatus Stephens (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae), Propylea quatuordecimpunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Adalia bipunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and Sympherobius fallax Navas (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae). Then, we assessed the predation rates and the functional response of C. carnea, M. angulatus, and P. quatuordecimpunctata preying on A. nerii . The first two experiments demonstrated that M. angulatus , P. quatuordecimpunctata , and S. rueppellii can survive, develop, and reproduce on A. nerii . Aphis nerii resulted in unsuitable prey for the remaining predators, as they displayed low foraging efficiency, survival and negligible impact on aphid population density. From the functional response study, it was observed that C. carnea did not show a significant response to varying densities of A. nerii . In contrast, both M. angulatus and P. quatuordecimpunctata exhibited a Type II functional response. Among these, the brown lacewing ( M. angulatus ) demonstrated superior predatory efficiency, with a higher attack rate and a shorter handling time compared to the lady beetle ( P. quatuordecimpunctata ). Although further studies are needed to understand the complex predator–prey dynamics, this study identifies promising candidates as biological control agents of A. nerii .
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. 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 9
Claim · model-written summary
Micromus angulatus survived, developed and reproduced on Aphis nerii.
- Taxon
- Mandevilla
Mandevillat0 - Interactor
- A. nerii
Aphis neriie0pest - Second interactor
- M. angulatus
_Micromus_angulatus_on_Daucus_carota.jpg?width=60)
Micromus angulatuse0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- survive, develop, and reproduce on A. neriie0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Micromus_angulatus_on_Daucus_carota.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“M. angulatus , P. quatuordecimpunctata , and S. rueppellii can survive, develop, and reproduce on A. nerii”
t0“Mandevilla”
Claim · model-written summary
Propylea quatuordecimpunctata survived, developed and reproduced on Aphis nerii.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- A. neriiAphis neriie0pest
- Second interactor
- P. quatuordecimpunctata
_Propylea_quatuordecimpunctata_on_Hypericum_perforatum.jpg?width=60)
Propylea quattuordecimpunctatae0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- survive, develop, and reproduce on A. neriie0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Propylea_quatuordecimpunctata_on_Hypericum_perforatum.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“M. angulatus , P. quatuordecimpunctata , and S. rueppellii can survive, develop, and reproduce on A. nerii”
t0“Mandevilla”
Claim · model-written summary
Sphaerophoria rueppellii survived, developed and reproduced on Aphis nerii.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- A. neriiAphis neriie0pest
- Second interactor
- S. rueppellii
Sphaerophoria rueppelliie0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- survive, develop, and reproduce on A. neriie0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. angulatus , P. quatuordecimpunctata , and S. rueppellii can survive, develop, and reproduce on A. nerii”
t0“Mandevilla”
Claim · model-written summary
The remaining predators had low foraging efficiency, survival and negligible effect on aphid density.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- Aphis neriiAphis neriie0pest
- Outcome
- low foraging efficiency, survival and negligible impact on aphid population densitye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Aphis nerii resulted in unsuitable prey for the remaining predators, as they displayed low foraging efficiency, survival and negligible impact on aphid population density”
t0“Mandevilla”
Claim · model-written summary
Chrysoperla carnea had no significant functional response to Aphis nerii density.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- A. neriiAphis neriie0pest
- Second interactor
- C. carnea
_Chrysoperla_carnea_-_dorsal_view.jpg?width=60)
Chrysoperla carneae0biocontrol_agent - Outcome
- responsee0
- Direction
- did not showe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Chrysoperla_carnea_-_dorsal_view.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“C. carnea did not show a significant response to varying densities of A. nerii”
t0“Mandevilla”
Claim · model-written summary
Micromus angulatus exhibited a Type II functional response to Aphis nerii density.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- Aphis neriiAphis neriit1peste1
- Second interactor
- M. angulatusMicromus angulatuse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- Type II functional responsee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both M. angulatus and P. quatuordecimpunctata exhibited a Type II functional response”
t0“Mandevilla”
t1“Aphis nerii”
e1“key pest of the ornamental Mandevilla plant”
Claim · model-written summary
Propylea quatuordecimpunctata exhibited a Type II functional response.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- Aphis neriiAphis neriit1peste1
- Second interactor
- P. quatuordecimpunctataPropylea quattuordecimpunctatae0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- Type II functional responsee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both M. angulatus and P. quatuordecimpunctata exhibited a Type II functional response”
t0“Mandevilla”
t1“Aphis nerii”
e1“key pest of the ornamental Mandevilla plant”
Claim · model-written summary
M. angulatus had higher attack rate than P. quatuordecimpunctata.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- Aphis neriiAphis neriit1peste1
- Second interactor
- M. angulatusMicromus angulatuse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- attack ratee0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- P. quatuordecimpunctatae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. angulatus ) demonstrated superior predatory efficiency, with a higher attack rate and a shorter handling time compared to the lady beetle ( P. quatuordecimpunctata”
t0“Mandevilla”
t1“Aphis nerii”
e1“key pest of the ornamental Mandevilla plant”
Claim · model-written summary
M. angulatus had shorter handling time than P. quatuordecimpunctata.
- Taxon
- MandevillaMandevillat0
- Interactor
- Aphis neriiAphis neriit1peste1
- Second interactor
- M. angulatusMicromus angulatuse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- handling timee0
- Direction
- shortere0
- Comparator
- P. quatuordecimpunctatae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. angulatus ) demonstrated superior predatory efficiency, with a higher attack rate and a shorter handling time compared to the lady beetle ( P. quatuordecimpunctata”
t0“Mandevilla”
t1“Aphis nerii”
e1“key pest of the ornamental Mandevilla plant”