Abstract
Biological control, a globally-important ecosystem service, can provide long-term and broad-scale suppression of invasive pests, weeds and pathogens in natural, urban and agricultural environments. Following (few) historic cases that led to sizeable environmental up-sets, the discipline of arthropod biological control has—over the past decades—evolved and matured. Now, by deliberately taking into account the ecological risks associated with the planned introduction of insect natural enemies, immense environmental and societal benefits can be gained. In this study, we document and analyze a successful case of biological control against the cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) which invaded Southeast Asia in 2008, where it caused substantial crop losses and triggered two- to three-fold surges in agricultural commodity prices. In 2009, the host-specific parasitoid Anagyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was released in Thailand and subsequently introduced into neighboring Asian countries. Drawing upon continental-scale insect surveys, multi-year population studies and (field-level) experimental assays, we show how A. lopezi attained intermediate to high parasitism rates across diverse agro-ecological contexts. Driving mealybug populations below non-damaging levels over a broad geographical area, A. lopezi allowed yield recoveries up to 10.0 t/ha and provided biological control services worth several hundred dollars per ha (at local farm-gate prices) in Asia’s four-million ha cassava crop. Our work provides lessons to invasion science and crop protection worldwide. Furthermore, it accentuates the importance of scientifically-guided biological control for insect pest management, and highlights its potentially large socio-economic benefits to agricultural sustainability in the face of a debilitating invasive pest. In times of unrelenting insect invasions, surging pesticide use and accelerating biodiversity loss across the globe, this study demonstrates how biological control—as a pure public good endeavor—constitutes a powerful, cost-effective and environmentally-responsible solution for invasive species mitigation.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-19-2018
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5796
Funding Information
This initiative was conducted as part of an EC-funded, IFAD-managed, CIAT-executed programme (CIAT-EGC-60-1000004285), while additional funding was provided through the CGIAR-wide Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Banana (CRP-RTB).
Related Content
Supplemental information for this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5796#supplemental-information.
Mealybug distribution records and parasitoid presence. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5796/supp-1
Supplementary figures and tables. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5796/supp-2
Repository Citation
Wyckhuys, Kris A. G.; Wongtiem, Prapit; Rauf, Aunu; Thancharoen, Anchana; Heimpel, George E.; Le, Nhung T. T.; Fanani, Muhammad Zainal; Gurr, Geoff M.; Lundgren, Jonathan G.; Burra, Dharani D.; Palao, Leo K.; Hyman, Glenn; Graziosi, Ignazio; Le, Vi X.; Cock, Matthew J. W.; Tscharntke, Teja; Wratten, Steve D.; Nguyen, Liem V.; You, Minsheng; Lu, Yanhui; Ketelaar, Johannes W; Goergen, Georg; and Neuenschwander, Peter, "Continental-Scale Suppression of an Invasive Pest by a Host-Specific Parasitoid Underlines Both Environmental and Economic Benefits of Arthropod Biological Control" (2018). Entomology Faculty Publications. 173.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/entomology_facpub/173
Supplemental Information: Mealybug distribution records and parasitoid presence.
Supporting_information_AGEE.docx (120 kB)
Supplemental Information: Supplementary figures and table.
Notes/Citation Information
Published in PeerJ, 6, e5796, p. 1-24.
© 2018 Wyckhuys et al.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.