Impact of change in winter strategy of one parasitoid species on the diversity and function of a guild of parasitoids.

The rise of temperatures may enable species to increase their activities during winter periods and to occupy new areas. In winter, resource density is low for most species and an increased number of active consumers during this season may produce heightened competitive pressure. In Western France, the aphid parasitoid species Aphidius avenae Haliday has been known to adopt a winter diapausing strategy adjacent to newly sown cereal crops, until recent reports of active winter populations in cereal crops. We investigate how the addition of this species to the winter guild of parasitoids may change the structure of the aphid-parasitoid food web and the host-exploitation strategies of previously occurring parasitoids. We showed that in winter, Aphidius avenae was mostly associated with two aphid species, Sitobion avenae Fabricius and Metopolophium dirhodum Walker, while the generalist species Aphidius rhopalosiphi was restricted to the aphid species Rhopalosiphum padi L. in the presence of Aphidius avenae. Due to this new competition, winter food webs present a higher degree of compartmentalization and lower proportional similarity index values than spring ones. Parasitoid and aphid abundances responded significantly to changes in daily high temperatures, suggesting that the host-parasitoid community structure can be partly predicted by climate. This study demonstrates how a change in the winter strategy of one species of a guild can modify complex interspecific relationships in host-parasitoid systems.

Antennal structure of male and female Aphidius rhopalosiphi DeStefani-Peres (Hymenoptera:Braconidae): description and morphological alterations after cold storage or heat exposure.

Several species of the genus Aphidius are used in biological control programs against aphid pests throughout the world and their behavior and physiology are well studied. But despite knowing the importance of sensory organs in their behavior, their antennal structure has never been described. We describe here the types and distribution of antennal sensilla in Aphidius rhopalosiphi, a larval parasitoid of several aphid species and observe how this antennal structure is modified after cold storage or heat exposure. Six types of sensilla were found on both male and female antennae. Male and female antennae differed in the total number of antennomeres (16 in males, 14 in females) and in the number and distribution of three of the six types of sensilla. After cold storage or heat exposure, we observed the appearance of a small number of abnormal sensilla.