Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain

The alfalfa weevil Hypera postica Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the most destructive alfalfa pests in the world, resulting in substantial economic losses. However, the amount of damage can be reduced by larval parasitoids of the genus Bathyplectes Förster (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonida...

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Autores: Levi-Mourao, Alexandre, Lazarevic, Maja, Parés-Casanova, Pere Miquel, Meseguer, Roberto, Pons, Xavier, Zikic, Vladimir
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
Repositorio:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:irtapubpro__::1d0ec8d9532e5b9e2925c61297d0831a
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/4864
https://doi.org/10.1017/s000748532510028x
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:632
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spelling Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in SpainLevi-Mourao, AlexandreLazarevic, MajaParés-Casanova, Pere MiquelMeseguer, RobertoPons, XavierZikic, Vladimir632The alfalfa weevil Hypera postica Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the most destructive alfalfa pests in the world, resulting in substantial economic losses. However, the amount of damage can be reduced by larval parasitoids of the genus Bathyplectes Förster (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) as a conservation biological control strategy. Parasitoids are currently identified by morphological body characteristics, cocoon morphology, and/or DNA analysis, but geometric morphometrics (GM) applied to the wing vein arrangement may also reveal differences between specimens. We distinguished 61 B. anurus (Thomson) and 41 B. curculionis (Thomson) specimens, based on the appearance of the cocoon. GM revealed statistically significant differences in wing vein patterns and fore wing shapes between species, but not between sexes within the same species. The 1 M + 1R1 cell, also known as the horsehead cell, was revealed to be an easy and reliable morphological character for species differentiation. Despite the New World literature, this is the first European report providing a visual method to differentiate B. anurus from B. curculionis. This study highlights the importance of precise species identification methods, such as geometric morphometry. It can contribute to a better implementation of biological control strategies against the alfalfa weevil in Spain and other Mediterranean countries.This study was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spanish Government, project AGL2017-84127-R: ‘Arable crop management and landscape interactions for pest control’; and the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovations of the Republic of Serbia [Grant Nos.: 451-03-136/2025-03/ 200124 and 451-03-137/2025-03/ 200124]. A.L.-M. was funded by a pre-doctoral JADE plus grant from the University of Lleida, and now is the recipient of a post-doctoral grant JDC2023-052129-I, funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FSE+. RM was funded by a pre-doctoral grant FPI-PRE2018-083602, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionCambridge University PressProducció VegetalProtecció Vegetal Sostenible202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/article8application/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/4864https://doi.org/10.1017/s000748532510028xreponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archiveinstname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)InglésBulletin of Entomological ResearchMINECO/Programa Estatal de I+D+I orientada a los retos de la sociedad/AGL2017-84127-R/ES/MANEJO DE CULTIVOS EXTENSIVOS E INTERACCIONES CON EL PAISAJE PARA EL CONTROL DE PLAGAS/MICIU/Programa Estatal para desarrollar, atraer y retener talento/JDC2023-052129-I/ES/ /FSE+/ / /EU/ /Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:irtapubpro__::1d0ec8d9532e5b9e2925c61297d0831a2026-06-16T08:51:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
title Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
spellingShingle Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
Levi-Mourao, Alexandre
632
title_short Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
title_full Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
title_fullStr Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
title_full_unstemmed Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
title_sort Differentiation of two Bathyplectes species, B. anurus and B. curculionis, parasitoids of the Alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) in Spain
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Levi-Mourao, Alexandre
Lazarevic, Maja
Parés-Casanova, Pere Miquel
Meseguer, Roberto
Pons, Xavier
Zikic, Vladimir
author Levi-Mourao, Alexandre
author_facet Levi-Mourao, Alexandre
Lazarevic, Maja
Parés-Casanova, Pere Miquel
Meseguer, Roberto
Pons, Xavier
Zikic, Vladimir
author_role author
author2 Lazarevic, Maja
Parés-Casanova, Pere Miquel
Meseguer, Roberto
Pons, Xavier
Zikic, Vladimir
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Producció Vegetal
Protecció Vegetal Sostenible
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 632
topic 632
description The alfalfa weevil Hypera postica Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the most destructive alfalfa pests in the world, resulting in substantial economic losses. However, the amount of damage can be reduced by larval parasitoids of the genus Bathyplectes Förster (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) as a conservation biological control strategy. Parasitoids are currently identified by morphological body characteristics, cocoon morphology, and/or DNA analysis, but geometric morphometrics (GM) applied to the wing vein arrangement may also reveal differences between specimens. We distinguished 61 B. anurus (Thomson) and 41 B. curculionis (Thomson) specimens, based on the appearance of the cocoon. GM revealed statistically significant differences in wing vein patterns and fore wing shapes between species, but not between sexes within the same species. The 1 M + 1R1 cell, also known as the horsehead cell, was revealed to be an easy and reliable morphological character for species differentiation. Despite the New World literature, this is the first European report providing a visual method to differentiate B. anurus from B. curculionis. This study highlights the importance of precise species identification methods, such as geometric morphometry. It can contribute to a better implementation of biological control strategies against the alfalfa weevil in Spain and other Mediterranean countries.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/4864
https://doi.org/10.1017/s000748532510028x
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/4864
https://doi.org/10.1017/s000748532510028x
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Bulletin of Entomological Research
MINECO/Programa Estatal de I+D+I orientada a los retos de la sociedad/AGL2017-84127-R/ES/MANEJO DE CULTIVOS EXTENSIVOS E INTERACCIONES CON EL PAISAJE PARA EL CONTROL DE PLAGAS/
MICIU/Programa Estatal para desarrollar, atraer y retener talento/JDC2023-052129-I/ES/ /
FSE+/ / /EU/ /
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 8
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cambridge University Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cambridge University Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
instname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
instname_str Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
reponame_str IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
collection IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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