Monday, December 11, 2006 - 8:47 AM
0356

Landscape complexity impacts soybean aphid biological control

Mary M. Gardiner, gardin18@msu.edu1, Nicholas P. Schmidt, schmidni@iastate.edu2, Emily Mueller, eem@entomology.wisc.edu3, Jeremy Chacon, chaco001@umn.edu4, Doug A. Landis, landisd@msu.edu1, Matthew E. O'Neal, oneal@iastate.edu2, Christina DiFonzo, difonzo@msu.edu1, Claudio Gratton, cgratton@wisc.edu3, George E. Heimpel, heimp001@umn.edu4, and Michael J. Brewer, brewerm@msu.edu1. (1) Michigan State University, 204 CIPS Bldg, East Lansing, MI, (2) Iowa State University, Entomology, 113 Insectary, Ames, IA, (3) University of Wisconsin - Madison, Department of Entomology, 1630 Linden Dr, 237 Russell Labs, Madison, WI, (4) University of Minnesota, Entomology, 1980 Folwell Ave, St. Paul, MN

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, a native of Asia, was first detected in the U.S. in 2000. Its current distribution extends throughout the North-Central U.S. and into Canada. Within this introduced range landscape structure has critical influences on the soybean aphid, its predators, and their interactions in agroecosystems. The impact of the predator community on soybean aphid population dynamics varied across 12 sites sampled in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. In 4 of the 12 sites, predators had no impact on aphid population growth. In the remaining 8 sites, predators either delayed (4 sites) or prevented (4 sites) aphid populations from reaching threshold. We examined the relationship between coccinellid species abundance and the amount of non-crop habitat (woodlots, wetlands, pasturelands, grasslands, and urban areas) in the landscape as well as overall landscape heterogeneity. Exotic lady beetles (Harmonia axyridis, Hippodamia variegata, and Coccinella septempunctata) were positively correlated with non-crop habitat and habitat heterogeneity. Native lady beetle populations (Hippodamia convergens, Coleomegilla maculata, Cycloneda munda, and Hippodamia parenthesis) were negatively correlated with habitat heterogeneity; they were most abundant in homogeneous landscapes dominated by corn and soybean. These findings suggest that native and non-native predators of soybean aphid may be experiencing landscape influences in different ways.


Species 1: Hemiptera Aphididae Aphis glycines (soybean aphid)
Species 2: Coleoptera Coccinellidae Harmonia axyridis (multicolored Asian lady beetle)