Calabuig Gomar, A.; García Mari, F.; Pekas, A. (2014). Ants affect the infestation levels but not the parasitism of honeydew and non-honeydew producing pests in citrus. Bulletin of Entomological Research. (104):405-417. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485313000564
Por favor, use este identificador para citar o enlazar este ítem: http://hdl.handle.net/10251/63942
Title:
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Ants affect the infestation levels but not the parasitism of honeydew and non-honeydew producing pests in citrus
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Author:
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Calabuig Gomar, Altea
García Mari, Ferran
Pekas, Apostolos
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UPV Unit:
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Universitat Politècnica de València. Departamento de Ecosistemas Agroforestales - Departament d'Ecosistemes Agroforestals
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Issued date:
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Abstract:
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[EN] Ants act simultaneously as predators and as hemipteran mutualists, and thereby
may affect the composition and population dynamics of a wide arthropod
community. We conducted ant-exclusion experiments in order to ...[+]
[EN] Ants act simultaneously as predators and as hemipteran mutualists, and thereby
may affect the composition and population dynamics of a wide arthropod
community. We conducted ant-exclusion experiments in order to determine the
impact of ants on the infestation levels and parasitism of three of the most important
citrus pests of western Mediterranean citrus: the honeydew producer Aleurothrixus
floccosus Maskell (woolly whitefly) and the non-honeydew producers Aonidiella
aurantii Maskell (California red scale; CRS) and Phyllocnistis citrella (Staiton) (citrus
leafminer). The study was conducted in three commercial citrus orchards, each one
dominated by one ant species (Pheidole pallidula, Lasius grandis or Linepithema humile)
during two consecutive growing seasons (2011 and 2012). We registered a significant
reduction of the CRS densities on fruits in the ant-excluded treatment in the three
orchards and in the two seasons, ranging from as high as 41% to as low as 21%.
Similarly, the percentage of shoots occupied by A. floccosus was significantly lower in
the ant-excluded plots in the orchards dominated by P. pallidula and L. humile. No
significant differences were registered in the percentage of leaf surface loss caused by
P. citrella between ant-allowed and ant-excluded treatments in any case. We found
no significant differences in the percent parasitism between ant-allowed and
ant-excluded treatments for honeydew and non-honeydew producing herbivores.
These results suggest that: (i) ant management should be considered in order to
reduce herbivore populations in citrus and (ii) mechanisms other than parasitism
(e.g., predation) might explain the differences in herbivore infestation levels between
treatments.
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Subjects:
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Lasius grandis
,
Pheidole pallidula
,
Linepithema humile
,
Aonidiella aurantii
,
Aleurothrixus floccosus
,
Phyllocnistis citrella
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Copyrigths:
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Reserva de todos los derechos
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Source:
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Bulletin of Entomological Research. (issn:
0007-4853
) (eissn:
1475-2670
)
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DOI:
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10.1017/S0007485313000564
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Publisher:
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Cambridge University Press (CUP): STM Journals
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Publisher version:
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https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007485313000564
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Project ID:
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info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//RTA2010-00012-C02-02/ES/Influencia de las hormigas en las poblaciones de artrópodos fitófagos y sus enemigos naturales en parcelas de cítricos/
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Thanks:
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This work was supported by the project (RTA2010-00012-C02-02) assigned to F. G. M from the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) of Spain. We thank three reviewers for their comments ...[+]
This work was supported by the project (RTA2010-00012-C02-02) assigned to F. G. M from the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) of Spain. We thank three reviewers for their comments that considerably improved the manuscript.
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Type:
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Artículo
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