06 Oca 2025 Pazartesi
Biodiversity of predators and parasitoids of Acyrthosiphon (Acyrthosiphon) pisum (Harris, 1776) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and their host plant associations in India
Abstract : The present article lists the predators and parasitoids of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon (Acyrthosiphon) pisum (Harris, 1776) infesting different food plants and distributed in various states and union territories of India. These predators belong to three orders of the class Insecta: Coleoptera (Coccinellidae), Diptera (Syrphidae), and Neuroptera (Chrysopidae). A total of 31 species of predators from various taxa were recorded to feed the pea aphid on 8 food plant species across 16 states/union territories of India. The highest number of predators belonged to the families Coccinellidae (22 species) and Syrphidae (8 species). Most of the tritrophic associations (triplets, predators-preys-host plants) of these predators were reported in Manipur (16 triplets), Uttar Pradesh (14 triplets), West Bengal (10 triplets) and other states/union territories with fewer than 10 triplets. All the parasitoids of Acyrthosiphon pisum belong to the single subfamily Aphidiinae (Braconidae: Hymenoptera) in India. A total of 9 species of parasitoids were observed parasitising Acyrthosiphon pisum infesting on 9 host plants in 14 states/union territory of India. Most of the tritrophic associations (triplets, parasitoids-hosts-host plants) of these parasitoids were reported from Uttar Pradesh (5 triplets), followed by Meghalaya (4 triplets), Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, West Bengal (each 3 triplets), Karnataka, Nagaland, Rajasthan (2 triplets) and Assam, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand (single triplet).