Attracting parasitoids with service plants for biocontrol in the tropics: abundance and taxonomic diversity effects
Abstract
In the current context of biodiversity crisis, pesticide reduction is a major challenge in agriculture. Parasitoid wasps are precious auxiliaries providing natural pest regulations, since they lay in pests. At adult stage, parasitoids feed on floral resources. Therefore, maintaining and enhancing the presence of flowering plants in agroecosystems is key to sustaining natural parasitoid populations and enhancing natural pest regulation (i.e., conservation biological control). However, flowering plants differ in their ability to efficiently recruit parasitoid wasp communities, and so must be tested before being introduced to agro-ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated the attractiveness of six tropical plants to parasitoids wasp in terms of density, diversity and agrofunctional diversity. A grand total of 1593 wasp individuals were sampled over four experimental seasons. B. pilosa was identified as the most promising species for control. C. sulphureus, C. ensiformis, L. alba and O. basilicum also attracted significant wasp communities. P. oleracea was the least attractive species, yielding the same results as the control (bare ground). This study is a first step toward designing innovative agricultural systems that integrate service plants for the natural pest regulation.
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BibTeX
@misc{margot2026attracting,
title = {{Attracting parasitoids with service plants for biocontrol in the tropics: abundance and taxonomic diversity effects}},
author = {Gumbau Margot and Fauvergue Xavier and Rasplus Jean-Yves and Blazy Jean-Marc and Penet Laurent},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05784227v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Attracting parasitoids with service plants for biocontrol in the tropics: abundance and taxonomic diversity effects
AU - Gumbau Margot
AU - Fauvergue Xavier
AU - Rasplus Jean-Yves
AU - Blazy Jean-Marc
AU - Penet Laurent
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05784227v1
AB - In the current context of biodiversity crisis, pesticide reduction is a major challenge in agriculture. Parasitoid wasps are precious auxiliaries providing natural pest regulations, since they lay in pests. At adult stage, parasitoids feed on floral resources. Therefore, maintaining and enhancing the presence of flowering plants in agroecosystems is key to sustaining natural parasitoid populations and enhancing natural pest regulation (i.e., conservation biological control). However, flowering plants differ in their ability to efficiently recruit parasitoid wasp communities, and so must be tested before being introduced to agro-ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated the attractiveness of six tropical plants to parasitoids wasp in terms of density, diversity and agrofunctional diversity. A grand total of 1593 wasp individuals were sampled over four experimental seasons. B. pilosa was identified as the most promising species for control. C. sulphureus, C. ensiformis, L. alba and O. basilicum also attracted significant wasp communities. P. oleracea was the least attractive species, yielding the same results as the control (bare ground). This study is a first step toward designing innovative agricultural systems that integrate service plants for the natural pest regulation.
ER -