Ooctonus vulgatus (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae), a potential biocontrol agent to reduce populations of Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae) the main vector of Xylella fastidiosa in Europe
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Abstract
As vector of Xylella fastidiosa (Wells, 1987) in Europe, the meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) is a species of major concern. Therefore, tools and agents to control this ubiquitous insect that develops and feeds on hundreds of plant species are wanted. We conducted a field survey of P. spumarius eggs in Corsica and provide a first report of Ooctonus vulgatus Haliday, 1833 (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae) as a potential biocontrol agent of P. spumarius in Europe. To allow species identification, we summarized the main characters distinguishing O. vulgatus from other European species of Ooctonus and generated COI DNA barcodes. We also assessed parasitism rates in several sampling sites, highlighting the top-down impact of O. vulgatus on populations of P. spumarius. Based on the geographic occurrences of O. vulgatus mined in the literature, we calibrated an ecological niche model to assess its potential distribution in the Holarctic. Our results showed that O. vulgatus potential distribution overlaps that of P. spumarius. Hence, O. vulgatus appears to be a promising biocontrol agent of the meadow spittlebug in Europe and it seems advisable to conduct research on this small parasitoid wasp to assess whether it could contribute to reduce the spread and impact of X. fastidiosa in Europe.
Cite this as
2019. Ooctonus vulgatus (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae), a potential biocontrol agent to reduce populations of Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae) the main vector of Xylella fastidiosa in Europe. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27941v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27941v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
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This is a submission to PeerJ for review.
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Supplemental Information
Illustration of the hatching experiment to quantify parasitism rates in four sampling sites
After inspection of the back of each leaf of C. monspeliensis collected in the Corsican maquis, parts of leaf containing whitish clusters were cut and put on moistened filter paper in Petri dishes (A). Panel B shows a zoom on the leaf, the white arrow pointing to the P. spumarius egg cluster. Leaf cuttings were observed under a binocular microscope to confirm the presence of P. spumarius eggs. Panels C, D and E show several groups of P. spumarius eggs. The orange pigmented spots and the black shields that can both be seen especially in panels C and D are respectively the future eyes of the larva and the characteristic “egg burster” used by the larva to break the egg shell (Weaver and King 1954). Panel E shows an egg cluster embedded in the frothy cement described by Weaver and King (1954). In panel D, the egg on the right has already hatched whereas the egg on the left hasn’t. Finally, panel F shows a first instar larva of P. spumarius in dorsal view while panel G show a male of O. vulgatus in ventral view
Supplementary methods
This appendix provides details regarding the species distribution modelling framework used in the study
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree including the newly generated sequences and all COI barcodes available in BOLD for Ooctonus species (last access July 12,2019)
Bootstrap (100 replicates) at nodes. The newly generated sequences are in red. The only four sequences identified as O. vulgatus in BOLD are in blue.
Occurrences of O. vulgatus mined in the literature
Occurrences of Ooctonus vulgatus mined from GBIF
Additional Information
Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Xavier Mesmin conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Marguerite Chartois analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Guenaelle Genson performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, approved the final draft.
Jean-Pierre Rossi performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Astrid Cruaud conceived and designed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Jean-Yves Rasplus conceived and designed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
DNA Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding the deposition of DNA sequences:
Sequences are not publicly available yet on GenBank, so we have provided them as a supplementary file
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
Raw data are sequences uploaded in GenBank
Funding
This work was funded by the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 727987 XF-ACTORS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
