Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The potential of native parasitoids for the control of Mexican bean beetles: A genetic and ecological approach

Aebi, Alexandre ; Shani, Tal ; Hansson, Christer LU ; Contreras-Garduno, Jorge ; Mansion, Guilhem and Benrey, Betty (2008) In Biological Control 47(3). p.289-297
Abstract
Bruchid beetles in the genus Zabrotes are important pests of field and stored beans all around the world and cause enormous economical losses in Mexico and Central America. Native parasitoids have been successfully used to suppress infestations by bruchid beetles in Africa, but few studies have assessed their potential to reduce seed damage in the New World and no successful biological control programs have been implemented, mainly due to the poor knowledge on their biology, systematics and ecology in this region. In this study, we used molecular tools to describe a new complex of three parasitoid species of bruchid beetles in the genus Horismenus, and investigated the level of gene flow and presence of ecotypes in this complex. We also... (More)
Bruchid beetles in the genus Zabrotes are important pests of field and stored beans all around the world and cause enormous economical losses in Mexico and Central America. Native parasitoids have been successfully used to suppress infestations by bruchid beetles in Africa, but few studies have assessed their potential to reduce seed damage in the New World and no successful biological control programs have been implemented, mainly due to the poor knowledge on their biology, systematics and ecology in this region. In this study, we used molecular tools to describe a new complex of three parasitoid species of bruchid beetles in the genus Horismenus, and investigated the level of gene flow and presence of ecotypes in this complex. We also examined the specific association between species of Horismenus and two sibling species of Zabrotes beetles, in order to evaluate their potential as biological control agents. Microsatellite data support the previous morphological description of three species, H. butcheri, H. missouriensis and H. depressus, but suggest some gene flow between H. missouriensis and H. depressus. Host-plant is shown to be the most important factor determining the ecological distribution of the two Zabrotes species, whereas altitude explains most of the distribution of the three Horismenus species. These results complement our understanding of this tritrophic system, providing a solid base for a potential biological control program using native parasitoids. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Biological control, Horismenus, Ecological distribution, Cryptic species, Zabrotes, Molecular differentiation, and cultivated beans, Wild
in
Biological Control
volume
47
issue
3
pages
289 - 297
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000261262600005
  • scopus:55249120402
ISSN
1090-2112
DOI
10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.07.019
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
26b0d103-bd72-4403-99b3-a0b630ddd8ea (old id 1305750)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:11:14
date last changed
2022-01-27 00:04:07
@article{26b0d103-bd72-4403-99b3-a0b630ddd8ea,
  abstract     = {{Bruchid beetles in the genus Zabrotes are important pests of field and stored beans all around the world and cause enormous economical losses in Mexico and Central America. Native parasitoids have been successfully used to suppress infestations by bruchid beetles in Africa, but few studies have assessed their potential to reduce seed damage in the New World and no successful biological control programs have been implemented, mainly due to the poor knowledge on their biology, systematics and ecology in this region. In this study, we used molecular tools to describe a new complex of three parasitoid species of bruchid beetles in the genus Horismenus, and investigated the level of gene flow and presence of ecotypes in this complex. We also examined the specific association between species of Horismenus and two sibling species of Zabrotes beetles, in order to evaluate their potential as biological control agents. Microsatellite data support the previous morphological description of three species, H. butcheri, H. missouriensis and H. depressus, but suggest some gene flow between H. missouriensis and H. depressus. Host-plant is shown to be the most important factor determining the ecological distribution of the two Zabrotes species, whereas altitude explains most of the distribution of the three Horismenus species. These results complement our understanding of this tritrophic system, providing a solid base for a potential biological control program using native parasitoids. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Aebi, Alexandre and Shani, Tal and Hansson, Christer and Contreras-Garduno, Jorge and Mansion, Guilhem and Benrey, Betty}},
  issn         = {{1090-2112}},
  keywords     = {{Biological control; Horismenus; Ecological distribution; Cryptic species; Zabrotes; Molecular differentiation; and cultivated beans; Wild}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{289--297}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Biological Control}},
  title        = {{The potential of native parasitoids for the control of Mexican bean beetles: A genetic and ecological approach}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.07.019}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.07.019}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}