Nitrogen-Mediated Interaction: A Walnut-Aphid-Parasitoid System

The effects of plant quality on natural enemies are often overlooked in planning and executing biological control programs for insect pests in agriculture. Plant quality, however, could help to explain some of the observed variation in effectiveness of biological control, as it can indirectly influence natural enemy populations. In this study, we used the walnut aphid Chromaphis juglandicola (Kaltenbach) to address the effect of increased nitrogen availability to the host plant on parasitism by the specialist parasitoid Trioxys pallidus (Haliday). In laboratory experiments with walnut seedlings, a higher chlorophyll content index of the foliage in response to added nitrogen was correlated with a decrease in the number of mummies produced by female parasitoids over a 24h period but an increase in the proportion and the size of female offspring. In field sampling of walnut orchards, there was no relationship between the percent parasitism of walnut aphids by T. pallidus and the chlorophyll content index of the trees. Nitrogen fertilizer and plant quality can clearly affect biological control and should be given greater consideration in integrated pest management.