Cross-habitat usage by crop aphids and their parasitoids in the crop-noncrop interface in an organic vegetable farm

JAUREGUIBERRY, PEDRO; BUFFA, LILIANA M; DELFINO, MIGUEL ANGEL

Revista Brasileira de Agroecologia

Asociación Brasilera de Ecología

Lugar: Cruz Alta, RS, Brasil; Año: 2010 vol. 5 p. 39 - 49

1980-9735

Plant-aphid-parasitoid interactions and parasitism rates were assessed in adjacent cultivated and non-cultivated habitats in an organic vegetable farm in a chaco serrano woodland, Córdoba, Argentina. Sevenaphid species on eight vegetable species were found in the cultivated habitat. Macrosiphum euphorbiaewas present on all vegetable species. Four parasitoid species were recorded, of which Diaretiella rapaewas the most common. It provided 21.32% of parasitism on Brevicoryne brassicae. In the non-cultivatedhabitat, 36 plant species hosted 22 aphid species and five parasitoid species. The aphid Myzus persicaewas present on 17 plant species of eight different families. Macrosiphoniella artemisiae was the mostabundant aphid species, with the associated Aphidius sp. being the most abundant parasitoid. Aphidiuspolygonaphis provided 10% of parasitism on Uroleucon aeneus. We report several wild plant species asimportant reservoirs of parasitoids, which are potential controllers of many pest aphid species.