caa a22 4500 606161791 CHVBK 20210128100636.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10526-015-9663-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10526-015-9663-6 How a slow-ovipositing parasitoid can succeed as a biological control agent of the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus peruvianus [Elektronische Daten] implications for future classical and conservation biological control programs [A. Beltrà, A. Soto, A. Tena] Phenacoccus peruvianus Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is an invasive mealybug that has become a pest of ornamental plants in Europe and has recently been detected in California, USA. In this work, we studied the tritrophic interaction among this mealybug, its main parasitoid Acerophagus n. sp. near coccois (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and tending ants to disclose the success of this parasitoid controlling P. peruvianus. Acerophagus n. sp. near coccois accepted mealybugs for parasitism regardless of their size but did not host-feed. We recorded three active defenses of P. peruvianus. Host handling time was not influenced by these host defenses but was a time-consuming process that required more than 30min. Tending ants, Lasius grandis (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), reduced the time spent by parasitoids in a patch and disrupted oviposition attempts. The low numbers of ants tending mealybug colonies in Spain and France could explain why this parasitoid, with a long handling time, is an efficient biological control agent for P. peruvianus. International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC), 2015 Phenacoccus peruvianus nationallicence Host defense nationallicence Handling time nationallicence Ants nationallicence Acerophagus n. sp. near coccois nationallicence Parasitoid behavior nationallicence Lasius grandis nationallicence Beltrà A. Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain aut Soto A. Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain aut Tena A. Unidad Asociada de Entomología UJI-IVIA-CIB CSIC, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, IVIA, Ctra. de Moncada a Náquera km 4.5, 46113, Moncada, Spain aut BioControl Springer Netherlands 60/4(2015-08-01), 473-484 1386-6141 60:4<473 2015 60 10526 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-015-9663-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-015-9663-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Beltrà A. Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Soto A. Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tena A. Unidad Asociada de Entomología UJI-IVIA-CIB CSIC, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, IVIA, Ctra. de Moncada a Náquera km 4.5, 46113, Moncada, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- BioControl Springer Netherlands 60/4(2015-08-01), 473-484 1386-6141 60:4<473 2015 60 10526