First Detection of Encarsia smithi in Italy and Co-Occurrence with Eretmocerus iulii: A Case of Unintentional Introductions and New Associations with the Invasive Species Aleurocanthus spiniferus.
Gianluca Melone, Lucia Andretta, Feliciana Pica, Francesco Pio Donnarumma, Roberta Ascolese, Francesco Nugnes, Stefania Laudonia
{"title":"First Detection of <i>Encarsia smithi</i> in Italy and Co-Occurrence with <i>Eretmocerus iulii</i>: A Case of Unintentional Introductions and New Associations with the Invasive Species <i>Aleurocanthus spiniferus</i>.","authors":"Gianluca Melone, Lucia Andretta, Feliciana Pica, Francesco Pio Donnarumma, Roberta Ascolese, Francesco Nugnes, Stefania Laudonia","doi":"10.3390/insects16090891","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The occurrence of the invasive Orange Spiny Whitefly (<i>Aleurocanthus spiniferus</i>) has expanded rapidly in Italy, prompting responses from both native and unintentionally introduced natural enemies. Through field monitoring, morpho-molecular identification, and phenological analysis, a multi-species parasitoid complex acting on this pest was revealed. In addition to the predominant activity of <i>Eretmocerus iulii</i>, this study reports the first European detection of <i>Encarsia smithi</i>, genetically confirmed as belonging to haplogroup I, a lineage previously associated with <i>A. spiniferus</i> in Asia. Occasional parasitization by <i>Cales noacki</i> was also observed. Seasonal patterns suggest a possible ecological complementarity between <i>Er. iulii</i> and <i>E. smithi</i>, which may contribute to the suppression of <i>A. spiniferus</i> populations. Although climatic variables showed weak correlations with infestation or parasitism rates, a slight positive relationship was observed between rainfall and whitefly abundance. The increasing biocenotic complexity, reflected by the diversity and interactions among parasitoid species, indicates an emerging ecological balance. These findings underscore the potential role of unintentional biological control in supporting agroecosystem resilience.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12470831/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Insects","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/insects16090891","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The occurrence of the invasive Orange Spiny Whitefly (Aleurocanthus spiniferus) has expanded rapidly in Italy, prompting responses from both native and unintentionally introduced natural enemies. Through field monitoring, morpho-molecular identification, and phenological analysis, a multi-species parasitoid complex acting on this pest was revealed. In addition to the predominant activity of Eretmocerus iulii, this study reports the first European detection of Encarsia smithi, genetically confirmed as belonging to haplogroup I, a lineage previously associated with A. spiniferus in Asia. Occasional parasitization by Cales noacki was also observed. Seasonal patterns suggest a possible ecological complementarity between Er. iulii and E. smithi, which may contribute to the suppression of A. spiniferus populations. Although climatic variables showed weak correlations with infestation or parasitism rates, a slight positive relationship was observed between rainfall and whitefly abundance. The increasing biocenotic complexity, reflected by the diversity and interactions among parasitoid species, indicates an emerging ecological balance. These findings underscore the potential role of unintentional biological control in supporting agroecosystem resilience.
InsectsAgricultural and Biological Sciences-Insect Science
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
10.00%
发文量
1013
审稿时长
21.77 days
期刊介绍:
Insects (ISSN 2075-4450) is an international, peer-reviewed open access journal of entomology published by MDPI online quarterly. It publishes reviews, research papers and communications related to the biology, physiology and the behavior of insects and arthropods. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Electronic files regarding the full details of the experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material.