Parasitoid-induced changes in metabolic rate and feeding activity of the emerald ash borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): implications for biological control

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 22663
• Main Authors: Dang, Ying-Qiao, Duan, Jian J., Li, Andrew Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19-12-2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/158; 631/443; Agrilus planipennis; Animals; Biological control; Branches; Buprestidae; Coleoptera; Coleoptera - physiology; Feeding; Fraxinus; Galleries; Host-parasite interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Instars; Invasive insects; Larva - physiology; Larvae; Metabolic rate; Metabolism; multidisciplinary; Offspring; Parasites; Parasitism; Parasitoids; Pest Control, Biological; Pests; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tetrastichus planipennisi; Trees; Wasps - physiology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50147-8

Parasitoid-host interactions form the foundation of biological control strategies against many agriculture and forest insect pests. The emerald ash borer (EAB),
Agrilus planipennis
(Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is a serious invasive pest of ash (
Fraxinus
spp.) trees in North America.
Tetrastichus planipennisi
(Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is a gregarious, koinobiont endoparasitoid, attacking late (3rd to 4th) instars of EAB larvae, which feed in the live phloem of ash trunks or branches, making serpentine-like galleries filled with larval frass. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that
T. planipennisi
regulates the host metabolism and feeding activity to optimize its offspring development and fitness. We first compared the respiration rate of parasitized and unparasitized host larvae at different times after parasitism, and then measured feeding activity of both parasitized and unparasitized host larvae inside their feeding galleries. Although parasitized host larvae increased metabolic rate and feeding activity in the first few days of parasitism,
T. planipennisi
parasitism induced an overall reduction of the metabolic rate and decrease in feeding activity of parasitized host larvae over their development period. In addition, there was a negative relationship between feeding activity of parasitized hosts and brood sizes of the parasitoid progeny—i.e., the more parasitoid progeny a host larva received, the less feeding activity the host had. These findings suggest that
T. planipennisi
has limited ability to optimize its offspring development and fitness through regulations of the host metabolism and feeding activity and its parasitism reduces feeding damage of parasitized EAB larvae to infested ash trees.