Determination of fitness traits of Orius strigicollis Poppius (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) on Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) using two-sex life table analysis

Shahzaib Ali; Qian Zhu; Waqar Jaleel; Shakeel Ur Rehman; Muhammad Asim Rasheed; Muhammad Musa Khan; Yasir Islam; Muhammad Hafeez; Xingmiao Zhou

doi:10.7717/peerj.9594

Determination of fitness traits of Orius strigicollis Poppius (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) on Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) using two-sex life table analysis

PeerJ. 2020 Aug 17:8:e9594. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9594. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Shahzaib Ali¹, Qian Zhu¹, Waqar Jaleel², Shakeel Ur Rehman¹, Muhammad Asim Rasheed¹, Muhammad Musa Khan³, Yasir Islam¹, Muhammad Hafeez⁴, Xingmiao Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Bio-Pesticide Innovation and Application, Engineering Research Centre of Biological Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) is a destructive insect pest of cotton crops in China and globally, which is actively predated on by Orius strigicollis. Studies on the fitness or survival of O. strigicollis fed on P. gossypiella at different temperatures have not been reported. The fitness of O. strigicollis may be well explained using two-sex life table parameters. Thus, the present study provides important insights for the effective biocontrol of P. gossypiella.

Methodology: Considering the importance of fitness parameters and biocontrol, the present study explores the feeding potential and age-stage, two-sex life table traits of O. strigicollis on P. gossypiella eggs at different temperatures (24, 28 and 32 °C) in the laboratory.

Results: The intrinsic rate of increase (r) was higher at 28 °C (0.14 d^-1) than at 24 °C (0.0052 d^-1) and 32 °C (0.12 d^-1). Similarly, the net reproductive rate (R ₀) was higher at 28 °C (17.63 offspring) than at 24 °C (1.13 offspring) and 32 °C (10.23 offspring). This concluded that the maximum feeding potential and growth capacity of O. strigicollis could be attained at 28 °C when fed on P. gossypiella eggs. O. strigicollis adults preferred to feed on P. gossypiella eggs compared with first instar larvae. Based on these results, the present study suggests that O. strigicollis represents a promising biological control agent against P. gossypiella eggs in cotton fields.

Keywords: Age-stage; Feeding potential; Fitness; Orius strigicollis; Pectinophora gossypiella; Population parameters; Temperature; Two-sex life table.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31872023), and the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0201000). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.