Mortality of native and invasive ladybirds co-infected by ectoparasitic and entomopathogenic fungi

PeerJ
Danny HaelewatersTed E Cottrell

Abstract

Harmonia axyridis is an invasive alien ladybird in North America and Europe. Studies show that multiple natural enemies are using Ha. axyridis as a new host. However, thus far, no research has been undertaken to study the effects of simultaneous infection by multiple natural enemies on Ha. axyridis. We hypothesized that high thallus densities of the ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens on a ladybird weaken the host's defenses, thereby making it more susceptible to infection by other natural enemies. We examined mortality of the North American-native Olla v-nigrum and Ha. axyridis co-infected with He. virescens and an entomopathogenic fungus-either Beauveria bassiana or Metarhizium brunneum. Laboratory assays revealed that He. virescens-infected O. v-nigrum individuals are more susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi, but Ha. axyridis does not suffer the same effects. This is in line with the enemy release hypothesis, which predicts that invasive alien species in new geographic areas experience reduced regulatory effects from natural enemies compared to native species. Considering our results, we can ask how He. virescens affects survival when confronted by other pathogens that previously had little impact on Ha. axyridis.

References

Nov 15, 2003·Journal of Invertebrate Pathology·Ted E Cottrell, David I Shapiro-Ilan
May 26, 2005·Journal of Invertebrate Pathology·David I Shapiro-Ilan, Ted E Cottrell
Oct 13, 2011·Pest Management Science·Jana C LeePeter Baufeld
Dec 5, 2014·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Matthias KonradSylvia Cremer
Nov 26, 2015·Ecology·Elizabeth H SchultheisJennifer A Lau
Oct 31, 2018·Scientific Reports·Danny HaelewatersDonald H Pfister
Mar 18, 2020·Mycologia·Meredith BlackwellDonald H Pfister
Sep 2, 2020·Annual Review of Entomology·Danny HaelewatersDonald H Pfister

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Citations

Dec 17, 2020·Journal of Fungi·Michiel D de GrootDanny Haelewaters

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Software Mentioned

package lme4
R
R package sjstats
R Core Team
R package survival

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