Oct.10, 2008
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| The ladybird beetle, aka ladybug, devours aphids in Urs Wyss' 44-minute high magnification film presentation. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS—The ladybird beetle, aka ladybug, is no lady—not when it comes to stalking and devouring prey.
The colorful beetle, known for consuming large quantities of aphids, will be among the beneficial insects featured in a 44-minute film presentation, “Biological Control of Greenhouse Pests with Natural Arthropod Enemies” on Wednesday, Oct. 15 in 122 Briggs. .
The event, sponsored by the Department of Entomology, begins at 12:15 p.m. It is part of the department's fall seminar series which began Oct. 1 and will continue through Dec. 3.
The film is the work of Urs Wyss of the Institute of Phytopathology, Kiel University, Germany. “All recordings were made at high magnification with a special stereomicroscope and camera,” he said.
Topic: Mayhem in the insect world
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Place: 122 Briggs
Film Narrator: Urs Wyss, Germany |
The work drew high praise at the May 16 meeting of the UC Davis Entomology Club when Michael Parrella, entomology professor and associate dean of the Division of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, narrated the film for students, faculty and staff. The insects stalk, capture, kill and eat their prey.
At Wednesday's presentation, Parrella will introduced Wyss.
The film documents the behavior of the most common greenhouse pests, such as spider mites, aphids, thrips, whiteflies, leafminers and their natural enemies.
 Urs Wyss writes in his abstract:
"The common greenhouse spider mite Tetranychus urticae is first presented, showing some particular features, such as territorial defense and fighting among males, egg deposition by females and population explosion. The following natural enemies are then shown: Pytoseiulus persimilis, Stethorus punctillum and Feltiella acarisuga. Special emphasis is placed on the hunting behavior of the predatory mite and the ladybird beetle. The larvae of the latter are able to consume caught prey only by extreme extra-oral digestion. The larvae of F. acarisuga wait for prey, which is rapidly grasped by sticky secretions and then paralysed and sucked dry.
"After a short presentation of the most important greenhouse aphids, the film shows the predatory behavior of Adalia bipunctata, Chrysoperla carnea, Episyrphus balteatus and Aphidoletes aphidimyza. Special attention is paid to the two dipteran species, e.g. how the tiny freshly hatched Aphidoletes larvae are able to overcome large aphids. Among aphid parasitoids, Aphelinus abdominalis and Aphidius ervi have been selected to demonstrate their different strategies to control aphid populations.
"A brief life cycle of the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis precedes the presentation of thrips enemies, among which the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii has recently gained considerable importance. This voracious mite usually attacks strong thrips larvae together with other conspecific mites in order to overcome their defense responses. Another predatory mite, Hypoaspis miles, used to control thrips praepupae and pupae in the soil, is a fierce predator and highly competitive. The predatory bug Orius laevigatus predigests caught thrips larvae by extra-oral digestion. The predatory thrips Franklinothrips vespiformis is able to locate thrips larvae before they have emerged from their eggs in the plant tissue and also attacks adult thrips. The endoparasitic wasp Thripobius semiluteus is well adapted to control larvae of Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis.
"For the documentation of whitefly enemies, some features of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, such as honeydew release and moulting processes are first shown, before the behavior of the main parasitoid Encarsia formosa is presented. The main differences between this species and another aphelinid wasp, Eretmocerus mundus (used to control Bemisia tabaci) have been recorded. The section on whitefly enemies also includes the predatory behaviour of Amblyseius swirskii.
"The film terminates with sequences on the behavior and life cycle of the leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis and subsequently demonstrates the behavior of the two main parasitoids Dacnusa sibirica (an endoparasitoid) and Diglyphus isaea (an ectoparasitoid)." |
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
