Improving the knowledge of Aphytis melinus biology to optimize its mass production: influence of food source, host and parasitoid densities [Dataset]
Data obtained during the years 2011 and 2012. The purpose of this work was to study the influence of several factors on fecundity and proportion of female parasitoids in the mass rearing of Aphytis melinus DeBach (Hymenoptera Aphelinidae). Its mass-rearing can be influenced by both host and parasito...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | conjunto de datos |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Sevilla (US) |
| Repositorio: | idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:idus.us.es:11441/166844 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/11441/166844 https://doi.org/10.12795/11441/166844 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Aphytis melinus Aonidiella aurantii densidad de huésped densidad parasitoide miel host density parasitoid density honey source |
| Sumario: | Data obtained during the years 2011 and 2012. The purpose of this work was to study the influence of several factors on fecundity and proportion of female parasitoids in the mass rearing of Aphytis melinus DeBach (Hymenoptera Aphelinidae). Its mass-rearing can be influenced by both host and parasitoid densities and by the available food source. Experiment 1 was designed to study the effect of host density on the fecundity of A. melinus, especially under high host densities, as it can happen in comercial mass-rearing. Three densities (treatments) of the host A. nerii (in the young female instar), which are usual on butternut squash used in mass rearing, were used in this experiment: high (40-60 hosts per cm2, equivalent to 126-190 hosts per female parasitoid), médium (16-40 hosts per cm2, equivalent to 50-126 hosts per female parasitoid), and low (3-15 hosts per cm2, equivalent to 9-48 hosts per female parasitoid). One 24 h-old adult female, which had been in contact with adult males to mate, was introduced into each plastic cylinder in each of the three treatments. Within each treatment, females were exposed to the host for 24 h and for 6 consecutive days by changing the experimental unit every day to a new squash patch with the same host density in the same squash, or in a new squash in order to assure the appropriate host stage. After 8-10 days, emerged adults were counted and sexed. Experiment 2 was designed to study the effect of parasitoid density on the fecundity of A. melinus. Three parasitoid densities (treatments) were used in this experiment: high (eight adult females), médium (four adult females), and low (two adult females), each paired with a host population of 20 young female instars. Ratios host:parasitoid were 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 respectively. Experiment 3 was designed to study the effect of different honey sources on A. melinus survival, especially the suitability of honey + agar. Four different diets (treatments) were used in this experiment: 1) pure bee honey; 2) honey diluted with water to provide a concentration of 10% (volume); 3) a preparation of honey with agar; 4) the control, with no honey or water added. One A. melinus adult female aged 24 h was introduced into each cylinder and food was changed between 1-2 days, recording whether the parasitoid was dead or alive and whether it had fed on the host body. In this study, host density did not influence the number of observed offspring per female per day (1.14 ± 0.15) or the sex ratio (0.32 ± 0.07 ♂) of A. melinus. Parasitoid density, on the other hand, did influence offspring production, with the higher parasitoid densities resulting in the lowest number of offspring (0.41 ± 0.07 per female per day). Medium and low parasitoid densities, meanwhile, produced similar numbers of offspring (0.83 ± 0.18 and 0.77 ± 0.13 per female per day, respectively). Sex ratio (0.43 ± 0.03 ♂) was not influenced by parasitoid density. The highest survival for A. melinus was achieved with honey (14.1 ± 1.2 days), but no statistical difference was observed with 10% honey. A mixture of honey, sugar and agar was not as good food source (only 3.0 ± 0.6 days of survival). Observed parasitoid host feeding was not continuous in the honey and 10% honey treatments, occurring only during 11.9 and 20.4% of the life-span, respectively. Maximum efficiency in offspring production per female was achieved when the host/parasitoid ratio was 5 to 10 hosts per female parasitoid per day. To maintain the lowest male bias of the offspring, female parasitoids should be in contact with the host for a period of no more than 3-4 days. The files contain data on host density, parasitoid density and food source. A detail of the materials and methods can be found in the publication itself. |
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