First insight on tritrophic interaction involving Plukenetia volubilis L., insects, and microbe as an early and crucial data for developing a pest management strategy

• Published in: Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences
• Main Author: Musa N.N.; Halim M.; Yaakop S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Agriculture 2024
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85188525548&doi=10.21162%2fPAKJAS%2f24.144&partnerID=40&md5=6e016060fd62cb9bee53b9bf0021233f

Sacha inchi, Plukenetia volubilis L. (Euphorbiaceae: Malpighiales) is a nut native to South America and has economic importance, including food production, cosmetics, and medicinal purposes. To date, no data is available on the tritrophic interactions among P. volubilis, insects, and the microbe species, thus this will be the first data obtained worldwide. Interestingly, this study has highlighted the aphids, the pests of Sacha inchi, predator of aphids, and the microfungi infecting the predators. The data was collected from an organic farm, as a model sampling site in two fruiting seasons. In this study, aphids species (Aphididae: Hemiptera) that infesting the Sacha inchi tree, and their predators (ladybirds) (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) have been discovered morphologically and molecularly. The species taxonomic status on both species’ groups (aphids and ladybirds) were confirmed using cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), which successfully documented 12 species (9 genera, 3 subfamilies) of ladybirds that parasitizing nine aphids species (8 genera, 5 subfamilies). Furthermore, the ant species, Camponotus sp. (Formicinae: Hymenoptera) was identified morphologically and was observed to act as a natural enemy of Cryptogonus spp. (Coccinellidae). Besides that, the seed of the Sacha inchi was also recorded to be infested by an ant species, Crematogaster sp. (Myrmicinae: Hymenoptera). Moreover, a ladybird species, Coccinella transversalis was infected with microfungi, Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota: Fungi). Based on the findings, all the species distinctly separated and presented on the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree using the COI sequences, and the dominant coefficient analysis for all the species was calculated. Our results presented the first and novel data findings from Malaysia and worldwide on the interaction among the Sacha inchi, insects, and microbe. It is very important as preparation data for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by structuring the control management through green practices against the pest species, whenever the situation is required. © 2024, University of Agriculture. All rights reserved.