Exploring the Shared Ecological Traits of Nectary Plants for Promoting Parasitism of Parasitoids

doi:10.16409/j.cnki.2095-039x.2021.09.015

Abstract

Abstract: Nectar-rich flowering plants in field margins can increase the fitness of natural enemies of crop pests. Providing suitable flowering plants in agro-system is one of the most common habitat management techniques that can promote conservation biological control of ecosystem services. However, selecting the ideal nectar-providing plant to enhance natural enemies becomes a practical problem that is to be urgently solved in conservation biological control. A series of tests were conducted to measure the fecundity of different parasitoids with 25 plant species under laboratory conditions. The results showed that flowering generally increased fecundity of parasitoids, but there were exceptions. The trait that was significantly related to the fecundity of parasitoids across observations was the plant inflorescence type. Compound umbel inflorescence was indicator of parasitoid fecundity, while the capitulum, solitary and spike inflorescence was not. Nectar plants have little influence on parasitism of tiny wasps such as Trichogramma. The hosts or geographical origin of parasitoids showed no significant influence on parasitism of Trichogramma wasps when they feed on flowering plants.

Key words: fecundity, nectariferous plants, effect size, relevance, conservation biological control

CLC Number:

S476.3

ZHU Pingyang, GAO Huiying, ZHANG Facheng, CHEN Guihua, XU Hongxing, GURR Geoff, Lü Zhongxian. Exploring the Shared Ecological Traits of Nectary Plants for Promoting Parasitism of Parasitoids[J]. Chinese Journal of Biological Control, 2021, 37(5): 892-903.

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