The effects of prey distribution and digestion on functional response of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Publication date: September 2018Source: Biological Control, Volume 124Author(s): Yi Feng, Zhao-Xu Zhou, Meng-Ru An, Xing-Lin Yu, Tong-Xian LiuAbstractThe effects of prey distribution and digestion on the functional response of an invertebrate predator Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) to varying densities of Aphis citricola (van der Goot) were investigated. Experiments were conducted in petri dish and wind tunnels with multiple plants to present conditions in which the predator could behave more naturally. To discriminate if the functional response of H. axyridis is digestion or handling limited, numbers of aphids consumed were measured at five time-points during a 24 h period in all assays. In the wind tunnel, aphid consumption was measured with two types of prey distributions (aggregate and uniform). Type 2 functional responses were observed in petri dish and three wind tunnel assays with aphid uniformly distributed (6, 12 and 24 h). Based on the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) value, type 1 response was most appropriate for two assays (1 and 2 h) with aphid uniformly distributed and all assays with aphid aggregate in wind tunnels. There was a significant effect of aphid distribution and its interactions with experiment duration and prey density on the number of aphids consumed in wind tunnel. The functional responses between uniform and aggregate treatments were mostly overlapped except when prey densities were above 90. This indicates that prey distribution could affect...

Source: Biological Control - July 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research