Foraging behavior and prey interactions by a guild of predators on various lifestages of Bemisia tabaci

Can Generalist Predators Control Bemisia tabaci?

Simple Summary

Whiteflies are major insect pests on a global scale. The use of insecticides is the primary tool for controlling them, but there are many problems relying on this strategy. However, natural enemies like predators and parasitic insects that attack whiteflies can help provide a sustainable pest management approach. This paper focuses on predators that feed on whiteflies as well as other insect pests and are called generalist predators. We provide a comprehensive view of generalist predator contributions and review the currently recognized generalist predators of whiteflies. There are many generalist predators in agricultural cropping systems that help control whiteflies. We highlight the need for conservation biological control programs through habitat management strategies and the use of selective insecticides, with an aim for more sustainable management of whiteflies in crops.

Abstract

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, has developed resistance to many insecticides, renewing interest in the biological control of this global pest. Generalist predators might contribute to whitefly suppression if they commonly occur in infested fields and generally complement rather than interfere with specialized natural enemies. Here, we review literature from the last 20 years, across US cropping systems, which considers the impacts of generalist predators on B. tabaci. Laboratory feeding trials and molecular gut content analysis suggest that at least 30 different generalist predator species willingly and/or regularly feed on these whiteflies. Nine of these predators appear to be particularly impactful, and a higher abundance of a few of these predator species has been shown to correlate with greater B. tabaci predation in the field. Predator species often occupy complementary feeding niches, which would be expected to strengthen biocontrol, although intraguild predation is also common and might be disruptive. Overall, our review suggests that a bio-diverse community of generalist predators commonly attacks B. tabaci, with the potential to exert substantial control in the field. The key challenge will be to develop reduced-spray plans so that generalist predators, and other more specialized natural enemies, are abundant enough that their biocontrol potential is realized.

A Molecular Approach for Detecting Stage-Specific Predation on Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae)

A molecular gut analysis technique is described to identify predators of Lygus hesperus (Knight), a significant pest of many crops. The technique is unique because it can pinpoint which life stage of the pest was consumed. Sentinel egg masses designed to mimic the endophytic egg-laying behavior of L. hesperus were marked with rabbit serum, while third instar and adult L. hesperus were marked with chicken and rat sera, respectively. Then, the variously labeled L. hesperus life stages were introduced into field cages that enclosed the native arthropod population inhabiting an individual cotton plant. After a 6-h exposure period, the predator assemblage, including the introduced and native L. hesperus population, in each cage were counted and had their gut contents examined for the presence of the variously marked L. hesperus life stages by a suite of serum-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The whole-plant sampling scheme revealed that Geocoris punticpes (Say) and Geocoris pallens Stal (Hemiptera: Geocoridae) and members of the spider complex were the numerically dominant predator taxa in the cotton field. The gut content analyses also showed that these two taxa appeared to be the most prolific predators of the L. hesperus nymph stage. Other key findings include that Collops vittatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) and Solenopsis xyloni McCook (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) appear to be adept at finding and feeding on the cryptic L. hesperus egg stage, and that L. hesperus, albeit at low frequencies, engaged in cannibalism. The methods described here could be adapted for studying life stage-specific feeding preferences for a wide variety of arthropod taxa.

Effect of Different Light Spectrum in Helicoverpa armigera Larvae during HearNPV Induced Tree-Top Disease

Lepidopteran larvae upon infection by baculovirus show positive photo-tactic movement during tree-top disease. In light of many insects exploiting specific spectral information for the different behavioral decision, each spectral wavelength of light is an individual parsimonious candidate for such behavior stimulation. Here, we investigated the responses of third instar Helicoverpa armigera larvae infected by Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) to white (broad-spectrum), blue (450–490 nm), UVA (320–400 nm), and UVB (290–320 nm) lights for the tree-top disease. Our findings suggest that tree-top phenomenon is induced only when the light is applied from above. Blue, white and UVA lights from above induced tree-top disease, causing infected larvae to die in an elevated position compared to those larvae living in the complete dark. In contrast, UVB from above did not induce tree-top disease. Blue light exerted the maximum photo-tactic response, significantly (p < 0.01) higher than white light. The magnitude of the response decreased with decreasing wavelength to UVA, and no response at UVB. Our results suggested that the spectral wavelength of the light has a significant effect on the induction of the tree-top disease in H. armigera third instar larvae infected with HearNPV.

Methodology for Developing Life Tables for Sessile Insects in the Field Using the Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, in Cotton As a Model System

Life tables provide a means of measuring the schedules of birth and death from populations over time. They also can be used to quantify the sources and rates of mortality in populations, which has a variety of applications in ecology, including agricultural ecosystems. Horizontal, or cohort-based, life tables provide for the most direct and accurate method of quantifying vital population rates because they follow a group of individuals in a population from birth to death. Here, protocols are presented for conducting and analyzing cohort-based life tables in the field that takes advantage of the sessile nature of the immature life stages of a global insect pest, Bemisia tabaci. Individual insects are located on the underside of cotton leaves and are marked by drawing a small circle around the insect with a non-toxic pen. This insect can then be observed repeatedly over time with the aid of hand lenses to measure development from one stage to the next and to identify stage-specific causes of death associated with natural and introduced mortality forces. Analyses explain how to correctly measure multiple mortality forces that act contemporaneously within each stage and how to use such data to provide meaningful population dynamic metrics. The method does not directly account for adult survival and reproduction, which limits inference to dynamics of immature stages. An example is presented that focused on measuring the impact of bottom-up (plant quality) and top-down (natural enemies) effects on the mortality dynamics of B. tabaci in the cotton system.

Intraguild predation between Amblyseius swirskii and two native Chinese predatory mite species and their development on intraguild prey

Amblyseius swirskii, native to the east and southeast Mediterranean region, is a successful biological control agent of whiteflies. In this study, we investigated intraguild predations (IGP) between each stage of A. swirskii and each stage of two Phytoseiid species that occur in China, Amblyseius orientalis and Neoseiulus californicus. When there was no whitefly egg provided as the extraguild prey, IGP between A. swirskii and A. orientalis, and between A. swirskii and N. californicus, was observed in 10 and 20 out of 35 combinations, respectively. When IGP was observed, A. swirskii was the intraguild predator in 70% and 65% cases of A. orientalis and N. californicus predation, respectively. These results suggest that A. swirskii is a more aggressive intraguild predator compared to either A. orientalis or N. californicus. When whitefly eggs were provided as the extraguild prey, IGP between A. swirskii and N. californicus decreased greatly, but no significant decrease of IGP was observed between A. swirskii and A. orientalis. Amblyseius swirskii was able to complete development on both heterospecific predatory mites, and both heterospecific predatory mites completed their development on A. swirskii. Possible impacts that A. swirskii may have on local predatory mite populations in China are discussed.

Intraguild predation on the whitefly parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus by the generalist predator Geocoris punctipes: a behavioral approach

Intraguild predation (IGP) takes place when natural enemies that use similar resources attack each other. The impact of IGP on biological control can be significant if the survival of natural enemy species is disrupted. In the present study, we assessed whether Geocoris punctipes (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) engages in IGP on Eretmocerus eremicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) while developing on whitefly nymphs of Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). In choice and non-choice tests, we exposed G. punctipes to parasitized and non-parasitized whitefly nymphs. We found that G. punctipes does practice IGP on E. eremicus. However, choice tests assessing G. punctipes consumption revealed a significant preference for non-parasitized T. vaporariorum nymphs. Subsequently, we investigated whether E. eremicus females modify their foraging behavior when exposed to conditions involving IGP risk. To assess this, we analyzed wasp foraging behavior under the following treatments: i) whitefly nymphs only (control = C), ii) whitefly nymphs previously exposed to a predator ( = PEP) and, iii) whitefly nymphs and presence of a predator ( = PP). In non-choice tests we found that E. eremicus did not significantly modify its number of attacks, attack duration, oviposition duration, or behavior sequences. However, E. eremicus oviposited significantly more eggs in the PEP treatment. In the PP treatment, G. punctipes also preyed upon adult E. eremicus wasps, significantly reducing their number of ovipositions and residence time. When the wasps were studied under choice tests, in which they were exposed simultaneously to all three treatments, the number of attacks and frequency of selection were similar under all treatments. These results indicate that under IGP risk, E. eremicus maintains several behavioral traits, but can also increase its number of ovipositions in the presence of IG-predator cues. We discuss these findings in the context of population dynamics and biological control.

Cellular apoptosis of hemocytes from Dendrolimus tabulaeformis Tsai et Liu larvae induced with the secondary metabolites of Beauveria brongniartii (Sacc.) Petch

To investigate the effect of the secondary metabolites of entomopathogenic fungus on the hemocyte immunity of host insect, the secondary metabolite complex (SMC) of Beauveriabrongniartii was used in three concentrations (5.5, 55, and 550 µg/mL), and the 4^th instar larvae of the pine caterpillar Dendrolimustabulaeformis were employed as host insects. The larvae were inoculated with the SMC solutions by injection in bioassays. Apoptosis of the larval hemocytes was observed using fluorescence microscopy (FM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and flow cytometry (FCM). The FM results showed that in the treated groups, larval hemocytes exhibited symptoms of early apoptosis at 6 h post-treatment by radiating a non-uniform kelly fluorescence and exhibited symptoms of late apoptosis at 12 h post-treatment by radiating a non-uniform orange fluorescence. Under TEM, the following ultra-structural changes associated with apoptosis of the larval hemocytes were observed in the treated groups: the nuclei were hypertrophied, slight folds were on the nuclear envelope, the chromatin became concentrated, the mitochondrial cristae disappeared or were disorderly, most cells developed blebs, and fibrillar aggregation appeared and accumulated in the cytoplasm. Apoptosis of the larval hemocytes was detected by FCM at 6 h post-treatment; the percentage of early apoptotic cells in the SMC 5.5, 55, and 550 µg/mL treatment groups were 11.93%, 13.10%, and 18.42%, respectively. Late apoptosis first occurred at 12 h post-treatment; the highest rate of apoptosis was 36.54 ± 4.37% at 24 h post-treatment in the SMC 55 µg/mL treatment group. In general, the cellular apoptosis rate was positively correlated with the SMC concentration and the time post-treatment. These results indicate that secondary metabolites of B. brongniartii are able to attack the hemocytes of D. tabulaeformis larvae and induce cellular apoptosis, thereby providing new evidence that secondary metabolites of mycopathogens can act on host immune systems.

Diet selection exhibited by juvenile and adult lifestages of the omnivores Western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus and tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris

Lygus hesperus Knight and Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Heteroptera: Miridae) are economically important plant bugs on many crops worldwide. However, these omnivores are also facultative predators on a wide variety of insects. This study was conducted to quantify and compare herbivory and carnivory exhibited among different lifestages of these two insect pests. The feeding activity of a total of 422 individuals was observed for 1 h each in feeding arenas containing a cotton leaf disk and copious amounts of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) eggs, nymphs and adults. The L. hesperus and L. lineolaris lifestages examined included adults and 3rd, 4th and 5th instar nymphs. Plant feeding occupied the majority of both species' time budget, regardless of the species or lifestage examined. There was a tendency for L. lineolaris lifestages to feed more often and for longer duration on plant tissue than L. hesperus. All lifestages of both species rarely fed on B. tabaci, but when they did, they preferred nymphs > adults > eggs. There were only a few cases where there were significant differences in predation rates and prey handling times exhibited among lifestages and between species, but juvenile L. hesperus tended to be more predaceous than juvenile L. lineolaris on whitefly nymphs and adults and 5th instar and adult L. lineolaris were significantly more herbaceous than their L. hesperus counterparts. In addition, the younger individuals of both species tended to have greater prey handling times than their older counterparts. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Effects of temperature and shear force on infectivity of the baculovirus Autographa californica M nucleopolyhedrovirus

Virus stability and infectivity during stressful conditions was assessed to establish guidelines for future virus filtration experiments and to contribute to the body of knowledge on a widely used virus. A recombinant baculovirus of Autographa californica M nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), vHSGFP, was incubated at 15-65 degrees C. A 2-log decrease in virus infectivity occurred after virus incubation above 45 degrees C. The activation energy of virus deactivation was circa 108 kJ/mol. Dynamic light scattering revealed an increase in apparent virus particle size from 150+/-19 to 249+/-13 nm at 55 degrees C. Protein and DNA concentrations in solution correlated well with virus aggregation as temperature was increased. Infectivity of vHSGFP stored for 5 months at 4 degrees C or exposed to shear stress from stirring (100 rpm, 1.02x10(-5) psi) and pumping (50-250 ml/min, 1.45x10(-5) to 7.25x10(-5) psi) did not change with time. Unlike temperature variations, cold storage and shear stress appeared to have little impact on infectivity.

In vitro host range of the Hz-1 nonoccluded virus in insect cell lines

A total of 13 insect cell lines spanning 4 orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera) were tested for their ability to replicate the nonoccluded virus Hz-1. Only the Lepidopteran cell lines supported replication of the virus with TN-CL1 and BCIRL-HZ-AM1 producing the highest titers of 2.4 x 10(8) tissue culture infective dose (TCID)50/ml and 2.0 x 10(8) TCID50/ml, respectively. A codling moth cell line (CP-169) was the only Lepidopteran cell line that did not replicate the virus and transfection of this cell line with Hz-1 DNA failed to replicate the virus. Also, transfection with DNA from a recombinant baculovirus carrying the red fluorescent protein gene (AcMNPVhsp70 Red) was not expressed in CP-169 cells. The replication cycle of Hz-1 in BCIRL-HZ-AM1 cells showed that this virus replicated rapidly starting at 16 h postinoculation (p.i.) and reaching a peak titer of 1.0 x 10(8) TCID50/ml 56 h postinoculation. Hz-1 when compared with several other baculoviruses has the widest in vitro host spectrum.

AcMNPV in permissive, semipermissive, and nonpermissive cell lines from Arthropoda

Insect cell lines from Arthropoda represented by Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera were evaluated for their ability to support replication of AcMNPV. In addition, some of the cell lines that were refractive to AcMNPV were tested with AcMNPV hsp70 Red, a recombinant carrying the red fluorescent protein (RFP) gene, for their ability to express this protein after inoculation. Of the 10 lepidopteran cell lines tested, only three cell lines from Helicoverpa zea (BCIRL-HZ-AM1), Lymantria dispar (IPLB-LD 65), and Cydia pomonella (CP-169) failed to support detectable viral replication as measured by tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50) assay. Heliothis virescens (BCIRL-HV-AM1) produced the highest viral titer of 2.3 +/- 0.1 x 10(7) TCID50/ml followed by Heliothis subflexa (BCIRL-HS-AM1) at 4.7 +/- 0.1 x 10(6) TCID50/ml and Spodoptera frugiperda (IPLB-SF21) at 4.1 +/- 0.1 x 10(6) TCID50/ml. None of the coleopteran, dipteran, or homopteran cell lines supported AcMNPV replication. However, when studies were performed using AcMNPV hsp70 Red, the dipteran cell lines Aedes aegypti (ATC-10) and Drosophila melanogaster (line 2), both expressed the RFP as well as the refractive lepidopteran cell lines from H. zea and L. dispar. No RFP expression was observed in any of the coleopteran or homopteran cell lines. Cell lines refractive to AcMNPV did not appear to be adversely affected by the virus, as judged by their ability to multiply, nor was there any indication of induced apoptosis, as assessed by deoxyribonucleic acid fragmentation profiles or cell blebbing, or both.