Honeydew as a food source for natural enemies: Making the best of a bad meal?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Honeydew as a food source for natural enemies: Making the best of a bad meal?

AU - Wäckers, F.L.

AU - Van Rijn, P.C.J.

AU - Heimpel, G.E.

N1 - Reporting year: 2008 Metis note: 4322;CTE; MTI; file:///C:/pdfs/PDFS2008/Wackers_ea_4322.pdf

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - The majority of predators and parasitoids require non-prey food as part of their diet. The availability of suitable non-prey food can impact predator–prey and parasitoid–host dynamics and may be critical to the efficacy of biological pest control. A growing body of work addresses the role of floral nectar in conservation biological control programs. In comparison, we know relatively little about the role of honeydew as a sugar source for predators and parasitoids, in spite of the fact that honeydew is often the predominant sugar source in agroecosystems. Here we test the hypothesis that honeydew is a less suitable food source when compared with other sugar sources, using data from parasitoid literature. We also explore whether parasitoids of honeydew-producing insects show particular adaptations allowing them to optimize the exploitation of this suboptimal food source. A review of available literature supports the general hypothesis that honeydew is inferior to other sugar sources, although there is considerable variation in the quality of honey

AB - The majority of predators and parasitoids require non-prey food as part of their diet. The availability of suitable non-prey food can impact predator–prey and parasitoid–host dynamics and may be critical to the efficacy of biological pest control. A growing body of work addresses the role of floral nectar in conservation biological control programs. In comparison, we know relatively little about the role of honeydew as a sugar source for predators and parasitoids, in spite of the fact that honeydew is often the predominant sugar source in agroecosystems. Here we test the hypothesis that honeydew is a less suitable food source when compared with other sugar sources, using data from parasitoid literature. We also explore whether parasitoids of honeydew-producing insects show particular adaptations allowing them to optimize the exploitation of this suboptimal food source. A review of available literature supports the general hypothesis that honeydew is inferior to other sugar sources, although there is considerable variation in the quality of honey

U2 - 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.01.007

DO - 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.01.007

M3 - Article

SN - 1049-9644

VL - 45

SP - 176

EP - 184

JO - Biological Control

JF - Biological Control

IS - 2

ER -