Aphytis melinus

Aphytis melinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Aphelinidae
Genus:Aphytis
Species: A. melinus
Binomial name
Aphytis melinus
DeBach, 1959

Aphytis melinus is an internal parasite of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii, which is a pest of citrus in California and elsewhere. This chalcid wasp drums its antennae against the scale insect to find out if it is healthy, if it is already parasitized, how large it is, etc., to decide how to use this prey. It has four choices (from worst to best): leave the scale to keep searching, feed directly on the scale, use the scale as a host for a male A. melinus, or use the scale for a female A. melinus.[1]

If it accepts the scale as a host, the female will lay an egg in the host. When the egg hatches, the larval wasp consumes the internal organs of the pest. When finished with its host, the larva enters the pupal, or cocoon, stage. From the pupa emerges the adult wasp, smaller than the scale it consumed, which goes off in search of more scale insects.[2]

This beneficial insect has controlled a key pest in citrus, significantly reducing pesticide use on citrus in California.

References

  1. ↑ Dreistadt, Steve H. (2012). Integrated Pest Management for Citrus, Third Edition. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. pp. 100–102. ISBN 978-1-60107-696-0.
  2. ↑ "Aphytis spp". Pest Management and Identification. UC IPM. Retrieved 14 November 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.