Published 2016
| Version v1
Journal article
Investigating biological control agents for controlling invasive populations of the Mealybug Pseudococcus comstocki in France
Creators
- Malausa, Thibaut
- Delaunay, Mathilde
- Fleisch, Alexandre
- Groussier, Geraldine
- Warot, Sylvie
- Crochard, Didier
- Guerrieri, Emilio
- Delvare, Gérard
- Pellizzari, Giuseppina
- Kaydan, M. Bora
- Al-Khateeb, Nadia
- Germain, Jean-Francois
- Brancaccio, Lisa
- Le Goff, Isabelle
- Bessac, Mélissa
- Ris, Nicolas
- Kreiter, Philippe
Contributors
Others:
- Institut Sophia Agrobiotech (ISA) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS) ; COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Ist Protez Sostenibile Piante ; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut national d'études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro)
- Dipartimento Agron Anim Alimenti Risorse Nat & Am, ; Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd)
- Imamoglu Vocat Sch, ; Cukurova University
- Lattakia Ctr Rearing Nat Enemie
- Lab Sante Vegetaux, Unite Entomol & Plantes Invas, ; Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES)
Description
Pseudococcus comstocki (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a mealybug species native to Eastern Asia and present as an invasive pest in northern Italy and southern France since the start of the century. It infests apple and pear trees, grapevines and some ornamental trees. Biocontrol programmes against this pest proved successful in central Asia and North America in the second half of the 20th century. In this study, we investigated possible bio-control agents against P. comstocki, with the aim of developing a biocontrol programme in France. We carried out systematic DNA-barcoding at each step in the search for a specialist parasitoid. First we characterised the French target populations of P. comstocki. We then identified the parasitoids attacking P. comstocki in France. Finally, we searched for foreign mealybug populations identified a priori as P. comstocki and surveyed their hymenopteran parasitoids. Three mealybug species (P. comstocki, P. viburni and P. cryptus) were identified during the survey, together with at least 16 different parasitoid taxa. We selected candidate biological control agent populations for use against P. comstocki in France, from the species Allotropa burrelli (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and Acerophagus malinus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). The coupling of molecular and morphological characterisation for both pests and natural enemies facilitated the programme development and the rejection of unsuitable or generalist parasitoids.
Additional details
Identifiers
- URL
- https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01604213
- URN
- urn:oai:HAL:hal-01604213v1
Origin repository
- Origin repository
- UNICA