Alternative strategies for aphid biological control: special regard on honeydew and bacteria from aphids | Stratégies alternatives pour le contrôle biologique des pucerons : attention particulière sur le miellat et les bactéries des pucerons

Aphids constitute a scourge in agriculture and are a major problem for crops worldwide. By feeding on the phloem sap but also by injecting saliva and viruses in plant tissues, they cause a weakening and impair the growth of the host-plant. Moreover, honeydew, the aphid excretory product, reduces transpiration and photosynthesis. But honeydew also attracts many predators and parasitoids of aphids, playing a key role in tritrophic interactions between plants, pests and beneficial insects. In this context, the main objective of this thesis was to promote the use of the hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer) (Diptera: Syrphidae) as an efficient biological control agent in aphid management strategies. Two different approaches have been developed here with success: (1) the introduction of this auxiliary in the fields or under greenhouses, using a biological control device developed in this work and (2) the attraction, the retention and the oviposition stimulation of the populations naturally present or manually introduced in the fields. To achieve these objectives, special attentions were focused on the aphid honeydew that is abundant on aphid infested plants, with special attention to the bacteria present in this aphid secretion. First, our studies allowed determining that honeydew acts as a volatile and a contact kairomone both for the E. balteatus larvae and adults but also on the Asian coccinellid Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) helping these aphidophagous predators to locate prey. In a second time, using semiochemicals from plants [(Z)-3-hexenol, R-(+)-limonene] and aphids [E-(β)-farnesene] but also crude and artificial honeydew, the hoverfly oviposition was artificially induced (without plants or aphids) on an inert surface. The so obtained eggs were then introduced in field crops to regulate aphid populations (biological control device). Then, the volatile compounds associated with honeydew were identified and tested as potential attractants and ovipositional stimulants: an artificial honeydew as well as an attractive formulation were composed and successfully tested in field crops since they both increased the presence of auxiliaries in targeted areas. Finally, the interaction between the host plant and aphids was envisaged to determine whether aphids are able to modify the host plant amino acid content in order to ingest sufficient nitrogen for growth: this study highlighted that the proportions of glutamine and asparagine significantly increase in the phloem sap when plants are infested.