Acceptance and suitability of Acyrthosiphon pisum and Sitobion avenae as hosts of the aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract

Aphidius ervi Haliday is a parasitoid of natural populations of both Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) on alfalfa and Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) on wheat in Chile. In this study the performance of the aphid parasitoid on both host species was evaluated. Regardless of origin, both females and males of A. ervi were significantly smaller when reared on S. avenae than on A. pisum. Males and females of A. ervi reared on S. avenae on wheat also took significantly longer to develop than when reared on A. pisum. There was no significant difference in the sex ratio of the parasitoid when reared on these two host aphids. Survival of parasitoids from the A. pisum - alfalfa system was significantly lower when reared on S. avenae relative to those reared on A. pisum, but no significant difference in survival on both hosts was detected in parasitoids from the S. avenae - wheat system. Behaviour of parasitoid females during oviposition, such as frequency of encounters, number of attacks and stabbings of