The native hyperparasitoid complex of the invasive aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in Benin, West Africa

A 2-year study in a vegetable-growing area (Tori, Hla Avamé) in Benin has shown that the invasive aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson) was attacked by three species of native hyperparasitoids. On several occasions, hyperparasitoids emerged from more than 90% of the mummies collected. The dominating hyperparasitoid was Syrphophagus africanus (Gahan). Two species in the genera Pachyneuron (Pteromalidae) and Aphanogmus (Ceraphronidae), respectively, were also recorded as hyperparasitoids. Charipinae hyperparasitoids were lacking. The only aphid host present at Hla Avamé was Aphis gossypii Glover, a dominating species in vegetable agroecosystems in Benin.

[1]  M. Tamò,et al.  Interaction between the aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) and its hyperparasitoid Syrphophagus africanus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) , 2012 .

[2]  A. Ives,et al.  The potential for hyperparasitism to compromise biological control: Why don’t hyperparasitoids drive their primary parasitoid hosts extinct? , 2011 .

[3]  M. Saethre,et al.  Aphids and their natural enemies in vegetable agroecosystems in Benin , 2011 .

[4]  Nicolas Desneux,et al.  Ecology and management of the soybean aphid in North America. , 2011, Annual review of entomology.

[5]  F. J. Frank van Veen,et al.  The impact of an ant–aphid mutualism on the functional composition of the secondary parasitoid community , 2010 .

[6]  E. Hougardy,et al.  Factors influencing the abundance of Trioxys pallidus, a successful introduced biological control agent of walnut aphid in California. , 2009 .

[7]  X. Pons,et al.  Opportunistic changes in the host range of Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cr.), an exotic aphid parasitoid expanding in the Iberian Peninsula , 2004, Journal of Pest Science.

[8]  A. Ives,et al.  COMPETITION BETWEEN NATIVE AND INTRODUCED PARASITOIDS OF APHIDS: NONTARGET EFFECTS AND BIOLOGICAL CONTROL , 2002 .

[9]  J. Rosenheim,et al.  Intraguild interactions in aphid parasitoids , 2000 .

[10]  D. Sullivan,et al.  Hyperparasitism: multitrophic ecology and behavior. , 1999, Annual review of entomology.

[11]  D. Sullivan,et al.  OVIPOSITIONAL BEHAVIOR AND LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF APHIDENCYRTUS APHIDIVORUS (HYMENOPTERA: ENCYRTIDAE), AN APHID HYPERPARASITOID , 1992 .

[12]  J. Farrell,et al.  The impact of Aphidius rhopalosiphi (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) on populations of the rose grain aphid ( Metopolophium dirhodum ) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on cereals in Canterbury, New Zealand , 1990 .