Biological invasion of aphids and other insects has been increased due to long distance commercial transportation of plant material. The bamboo-aphid-parasitoid association is strictly specific and even though it does not develop interactions with the local environment it should be listed as part of the fauna of southwestern Europe. On-going research regarding aphids and their aphidiine parasitoids in Spain has yielded a new association of Trioxys liui Chou & Chou, 1993 with an undescribed species of Takecallis aphids on bamboo, Phyllostachys spp. Here we present the first association of T. liui with aphids of the genus Takecallis that attack bamboos. Trioxys liui is known as a parasitoid of Cranaphis formosana (Takahashi, 1924) and Phyllaphoides bambusicola Takahashi, 1921 on bamboos in China and Russia. The accidental introduction of this parasitoid species to southwestern Europe has been probably realized through transportation of contaminated bamboo plant material. In the current study, a new host association is recorded for T. liui. Its potential to invade other bamboo-associated aphids and the significance of the tritrophic bamboo-aphid-parasitoid interactions in the new environments are also discussed.
Keywords: Bamboo; invasive species; new association; parasitoid.
Ehsan Rakhshani, Jose Michelena Saval, Nicolas Pérez Hidalgo, Xavier Pons, Nickolas G. Kavallieratos, Petr Starý.