Parasite colonizations against Crioceris asparagi (L.) and C. duodecimpunctata (L.) (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae) in North America from 1983 to 1988

3 Pages·1991·1.5 MB·

PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
93(1), 1991, pp. 67-69
PARASITE COLONIZATIONS AGAINST CRIOCERISASPARAGI AND
(L.)
C DUODECIMPUNCTATA (COLEOPTEIL\: CHRYSOMELIDAE)
(L.)
IN NORTH AMERICA FROM 1983 TO 1988
R. M. Hendrickson, Jr., F, Gruber,
G. Mailloux, and J. J. Drea
(RMH) Beneficial Insects Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 501 South Chapel Street, Newark, Delaware 19713; (FG)
European Parasite Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department ofAgri-
culture, 13-17 rue de la Masse, 78910 Orgerus-Behoust, France; (GM) Station de re-
cherches de St-Bruno, 335 Est, Chemin des 25, St-Bruno de Montarville, P. Quebec,
CanadaJ3V 4P6; (JJD) Beneficial Insects Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S.
Department ofAgriculture, Bldg. 476, BARC-East, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.
Abstract.—Three speciesofparasiteswerecolonizedagainst Criocerisasparagi. Ofthese
Lemophagus crioceritor Aubert (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) is probably established
in Canada. Two species ofparasites were released against C duodecimpunctata but none
was recovered.
Key Words: Insecta, asparagus, biological control, parasite, Lemophagus, Tetrastichus,
Meigenia, Diaparsis, Paralispe, Mesochorus
Two species of chrysomelid beetles, the cost ofabout $200,000. Even so the beetles
asparagus beetle (AB), Crioceris asparagi remain a problem.
(L.),andthespottedasparagusbeetle(SAB), TheUSDAAgriculturalResearchService
C
duodecimpunctata (L.), are serious pests conducted a biological control program
ofasparaguscultureinNorthAmerica. Both against these beetles in North America in
speciesare exotic; theirorigin is believed to the 1980s. Thisisasummaryoftheproject.
be Europe. There are 83,000 acres ofcom-
Materials and Methods
mercial asparagus in the United States with
an annual value in excess of $82 million. To obtain parasites of the beetles, large
C
The acreage is spread over 12 states with numbers of late instar asparagi larvae
the highest production in California, Wash- were collected from asparagus fields in
ington, Oregon, Michigan, and Illinois. Cri- France, and then heldin screenbottom cag-
oceris species are serious pests ofasparagus esatthe European Parasite Laboratory, then
inall statesexceptCalifornia. Inthreestates, atSevres,atambientroomconditions. Bou-
Washington, Michigan, and Illinois, the an- quets of asparagus ferns were supplied as
nual losstobeetle feedingdamage, resultant food. Mature larvae dropped through the
market culling, and the cost ofpartially ef- screen bottom ofthe cage and pupated in a
fectivechemicalsusedinan attempttocon- mixture ofmoist sand and vermiculite. To
trol the beetles is between $1.4 and $1.6 obtain parasites of SAB, large numbers of
million. In New Jersey, there are generally asparagus berries infested with SAB larvae
three spray applications per year at a total werecollectedandheldunderthesamecon-
68 PROCEEDINGS OFTHE ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY OFWASHINGTON
ditions. Mature larvae of this species The hyperparasite, Mesochorus testaceus
emerged from the berries, dropped to the Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumoni-
substrate, and burrowed into it to pupate. dae), was recovered from 32.1% ofthe host
Aduhandpupal parasiteswhich emerged insects containing L. crioceritor.
were sent to the Beneficial Insects Research
Laboratory, Newark, Del. Pupae were held SAB: Diaparsis truncatus 20.0%
in quarantine until emergence ofthe adult Tetrastichus crioceridis 17.8%
parasites. After clearance from quarantine, Total 37.8%
parasitespeciesweredividedamongproject
North American colonizations: The total
researchers directly involved in the project
in Delaware, Maryland, and Quebec, Can- numbers ofparasites colonized in the Unit-
ada, and cooperators in Delaware, Maine, ed States and Canada were 1 1,236 (50.2%
Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Virginia, 9)D. truncatus; 4481 (49.8%9)Lemophagus
andWashington forstudyandcolonization. crioceritor(1600additional pupaewere used
Field recovery sampling ofthe coloniza- for laboratory studies); 8381 (56.8% 9) M.
tion sites consisted ofweekly collections of mutabilis; 34,731 (96.5%9) T. asparagi; and
up to several hundred mature larvae, de- 86,018 (73.0% 9) T. crioceridis.
pendingon the abundance ofthe beetle lar- Recovery ofL. crioceritor: A total of 166
vae. AB larvae were held in small cages in L. crioceritorwasreleasedata fieldadjacent
the laboratory with bouquets of asparagus to the Beneficial Insects Research Labora-
ferns for food. Since SAB larvae develop in tory, Newark, Del. in 1984 and 1985. Re-
asparagus berries, 473 ml (1 pint) of fully coveryattemptsweremadeatthis site from
formed berries, green or red in color, were 1986 to 1989 and a total of 1566 AB larvae
collected weekly forrecoveries ofthe intro- were collected. Of these, 65.0% produced
duced parasites. adult beetles and 2.1% produced parasites
Results and Discussion of three species. A single specimen of L.
European collections: A total of 145,560 crioceritor was recovered in 1986, three
C. asparagi larvae and 136,560 C. duode- specimens in 1987, no specimens in 1988
cimpunctatalarvaewerecollectedin France. or 1989, although a single live individual
From this material, five primary parasites wasobservedontheasparagusplantsinJuly
were recovered. They were Diaparsis trun- 1988.
catus (Gravenhorst) (Hymenoptera: Ich- In Maryland only one adult L. crioceritor
neumonidae), Lemophagus crioceritor Au- was ever recovered from any of the colo-
bert (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), nization fields. Thatwas from the Beltsville
Meigenia mutabilis (Fallen) (Diptera: Ta- Agricultural Research Center in 1986, the
chinidae), Tetrastichus asparagi Crawford year after the initial colonizations.
RMH
and T. crioceridis Graham (Hymenoptera: Colonizations were also made by
Eulophidae). Ofthese, twospecieswerenew and JJD at 25 other sites in Delaware,
to science: Lemophagus crioceritor was de- Maryland, and New Jersey. The sites were
scribed by Aubert (1986) and Tetrastichus commercial fields subjected to regular in-
crioceridis by Graham (1983). The follow- secticidal treatments. AB larvae were col-
ing is a summary of the parasite species lected from 19 ofthese fields for the next 2
composition and abundance from the total years, but L. crioceritor was only recovered
host collections. in the year ofcolonization.
AB: Tetrastichus asparagi 10.3% At L'Assomption, Quebec, a total of312
Meigenia mutabilis 16.1% adultsofL. crzocm/orwascolonizedin 1985
Lemophagus crioceritor 7.9% and 1986. In 1987 parasitization was 8.9%
Total 34.3% (n = 74). An administrative change in re-
VOLUME NUMBER
93, 69
A
search objectives prevented recovery at- native solitary parasite, Paralispe in-
tempts in later years. fernalis (Townsend) (Diptera: Tachinidae),
Harmer et al. (1990), cooperators at the wasrecoveredfrom manysamplesin Mary-
University ofGuelph, Ontario, released L. land and Delaware, but it produced only
crioceritor in 1987. They found a rate of 2.1% parasitization (n = 22) at the Benefi-
parasitism of 15.7% for the first generation cial Insects Research Laboratory and ap-
and24.8%forthesecondgenerationin 1989, parently had no controlling impact on the
which suggests the parasite is probably es- populations ofthe host.
tablished. Since no specimens ofparasites released
The probable establishment of L. cri- against SAB were recovered and only one
oceritor in Canada and its probable failure species, L. crioceritor, is probably estab-
toestablish,atleastinrecoverablenumbers, lished against AB, the USDA has discon-
in the Middle Atlantic states suggest that tinued the introduction program. However,
the parasite is favored by cooler northern thereisstillthepossibilitythatLemophagus
latitudes. A similar situation was noted in will continue to increase in the northern ar-
France. The overall percentage parasitiza- eas ofdistribution ofC. asparagi in North
tion in the fields studied in Franceaveraged America.
7.9%. However, in the most northern col-
Acknowledgments
lection sites, the departments ofLoiret and
Loir-et-Cher, parasitizationwas 8.6%. Inthe E. Reyassistedincollectionsandrearings
most southern collection area, the depart- in France. S. Barth participated in coloni-
ment ofDrome, the parasitization was only zations, collections, and rearings in north-
0.6%. eastern U.S. L. Ertle handled quarantine
Recovery of other parasite species: The processing and provided sex ratio data.
gregarious larval parasite, T. asparagi, was Initial identifications were provided by J.
recovered from AB collected from 1986- Aubert 1986;Lemophagus)andbyM.Gra-
(
1989. However, the overall parasitization ham (1983; T. crioceridis). Other identifi-
wasextremely low. Only 0.5%(n = 7)ofthe cations were provided by R. Carlson {Lem-
hosts from which live forms emerged were ophagus and Mesochorus), M. Schauff
parasitized by the eulophid and 31 individ- (Tetrastichus), H. Townes (Diaparsis) and
uals emerged at the Beneficial Insects Re- N. Woodley (Tachinidae). The paper was
searchLaboratory.Although T. asparagi"was reviewed by M. Rose and D. Williams.
recorded in North Americaasearlyas 1863
Literature Cited
(Clausen 1978), specimens were colonized
to increase the genetic diversity ofthe par- Aubert, J. F. 1986. Quatorze Ichneumonides Petio-
asite and possibly increase its effectiveness lees ineditesou synonymes. Bulletindela Societe
in North America. FG found that 10.3% of Entomologiquede Mulhouse, pp. 17-25.
the hosts were parasitized by T. asparagiin Clausaetno,rsC.ofPa.rt1h9r7o8p.odIpnetsrtosduacneddwpeaerdassi:teAsawnodrlpdrerde--
France.
view. U.S.D.A. Agriculture Handbook No. 480.
At UAssomption, Quebec, the average Graham, M. W. R. de V. 1983. A new species of
maximum parasitism by T. asparagi was TetrastichusHaliday(Hymenoptera:Eulophidae),
39.1% in the first generation and 49.2% in a parasite ofthe asparagus beetle, Crioceris duo-
thesecondgenerationfor 1980-1987. These decimpunctata (L.). Entomological Gazette 34:
275-277.
figures are very much higher than those
Harmer, C. S., M. K. Sears, and J. L. Laing. 1990.
found in Delaware. This suggests the par- Parasitoidoftheasparagusbeetle.BiocontrolNews
asite has definite climatic preferences. 3: 3^.