A mite parasitoid, Pyemotes zhonghuajia, negatively impacts the fitness traits and immune responseof the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda
2024
Yanfei Song | Tai’an Tian | Yichai Chen | Keshi Zhang | Maofa Yang | Jianfeng Liu
Parasitoidsare key regulators in ecological communities and widely used as agents inbiocontrol programmes. The fallarmyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, recently invaded multiplecontinents and caused substantial economic losses in agriculture. Pyemotes zhonghuajia, a newlyidentified mite parasitoid, has shown potential for controlling variousagricultural insect pests. Therefore,this study tested the performance of P. zhonghuajia inparasitising S. frugiperda. We also investigated the sublethal effects of parasitism by P. zhonghuajia on host fitness traits, transgenerational impacts, and cellular and humoralimmunity. Our result showed that thefifth-instar larvae of S. frugiperda parasitised by 40 P. zhonghuajia were all dead (i.e., a lethal effect), while parasitism by 5 or 10 P. zhonghuajia was considered sublethal since many S. frugiperda survivedto adulthood and produced offspring after mating. The sublethal influences from parasitism by P. zhonghuajia resulted in reduced pupal weight, adult emergence rate and fecundity, butincreased developmental time and longevity. Parasitism at both lethal (40 mites) and sublethal (10 mites) levelsimpaired the cellular and humoral immunity of S. frugiperda. This study presents the first empiricalevidence that mite parasitoids can negatively influence host immunity. Moreover, it provides insights into thebiocontrol potential of mite parasitoids and their interactions with hosts.
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