{"pk":41288,"title":"Brachygastra mellifica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): Predation preference and feeding behavior on Diaphorina citri  (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) in Mexico","subtitle":null,"abstract":"In previous field studies in Northern Mexico, we found the wasp \nBrachygastra mellifica \n(Say 1837)\n \n(Hymenoptera: Vespidae) preying voraciously the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), \nDiaphorina citri \nKuwayama\n \n(Hemiptera: Psyllidae), the vector of the bacteria\n Ca. \nLiberibacter spp.,\n \nthe putative agent of Huanglongbing,\n \none of the most devastating citrus disease in the world.   As in Mexico, the ACP management considers the use of pest biological control, the availability of potential agents for the control of the vector remains as a priority.  The objective of this study was to determine the predation preference of the wasp for the different developmental stages of \nD. citri.\n During 2011-2012, we performed experiments in field where we exposed manually to the predator new citrus flushes infested by eggs and diverse ACP nymphal instars.  The predation behavior was recorded in videos and posteriorly analyzed in the lab. Other observations on its feeding attack were made directly on infested flushes in the trees, during the foraging activity of the wasp. Results indicated that \nB. mellifica\n preferred for predation 4th and 5th instar nymphs, and posteriorly 2nd and 3rd instars. Due to their size and position in the flush, eggs and first instar nymphs were practically discriminated by the wasp. Occasionally, \nB. mellifica\n consumed \nD. citri\n adults. This predator represents a potential agent for natural control of \nD. citri\n in the North of Mexico, and South of the USA, mainly through conservation strategies of beneficial insects.","language":"en","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[],"section":"Abstracts of Presentations at the 3rd International Research Conference on Huanglongbing","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6d16q50h","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"M.","middle_name":"A.","last_name":"Reyes-Rosas","name_suffix":"","institution":"Instituto Nacional Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Centro de Investigación Regional Noreste (CIRNE), Campo Experimental Río Bravo, Río Bravo, Tamaulipas, México","department":"None"},{"first_name":"J.","middle_name":"","last_name":"Loera-Gallardo","name_suffix":"","institution":"","department":"None"},{"first_name":"J.","middle_name":"I.","last_name":"López-Arroyo","name_suffix":"","institution":"INIFAP-CIRNE, Campo Experimental General Terán, Nuevo León, México","department":"None"},{"first_name":"M.","middle_name":"","last_name":"Buck","name_suffix":"","institution":"Invertebrate Zoology, Royal Alberta Museum, 12845-102nd Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2014-12-17T00:24:49Z","date_accepted":"2014-12-17T00:24:49Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T00:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/iocv_journalcitruspathology/article/41288/galley/30887/download/"}]}