Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:13:22.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Immunological investigation of prey-predator relationships for Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Swarna Hewa Kapuge ,
W. Danthanarayana  and
Nicholas Hoogenraad
Swarna Hewa Kapuge
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
W. Danthanarayana
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
Nicholas Hoogenraad
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to examine the digestive tracts of potential predators collected from an experimental cabbage plot in Victoria, Australia, for antigens of Pieris rapae (L.). The rabbit serum used in the study was made against an extract of all immature stages of the prey species and was shown to interact with proteins representing all immature stages. The serum was also shown not to react with antigens from other pest species collected from the experimental plot or with predators not exposed to the prey. The main predators found using the assay were the labidurids Nala lividipes (Dufour) and Labidura riparia truncata Kirby, the staphylinid Thyreocephalus cyanopterus (Erichson) and the eusparassid Olios diana (L. Koch). These results agree closely with laboratory observations on predation. The assay was sensitive, allowing 2000 assays to be performed per millilitre of serum and thus a single serum collection of 20 ml permitted about 40 000 assays.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 77 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 247 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashby, J. W. (1974). A study of arthropod predation of Pieris rapae L. using serological and exclusion techniques.—J. appl. Ecol. 11, 419–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bittner, M., Kupferer, P. & Morris, C. F. (1980). Electrophoretic transfer of proteins and nucleic acids from slab gels to diazobenzyloximethyl cellulose or nitrocellulose sheets.—Analyt. Biochem. 102, 459–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boreham, P. F. L. (1975). Some applications of bloodmeal identifications in relation to the epidemiology of vector-borne tropical diseases.—J. trop. Med. Hyg. 78, 83–91.Google Scholar
Boreham, P. F. L. & Ohiagu, C. E. (1978). The use of serology in evaluating prey-predator relationships: a review.—Bull. ent. Res. 68, 171–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dempster, J. P. (1960). A quantitative study of the predators on the eggs and larvae of the broom beetle, Phytodecta olivacea Forster, using the precipitin test.—J. Anim. Ecol. 29, 149–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dempster, J. P. (1964). The feeding habits of the Miridae (Heteroptera) living on broom (Sarothamnus scoparius (L.) Wimm.).—Entomologia exp. appl. 7, 149–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dempster, J. P. (1967). The control of Pieris rapae with DDT. I. The natural mortality of the young stages of Pieris.—J. Appl. Ecol. 4, 485–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenstone, M. H. (1977). A passive haemagglutination inhibition assay for the identification of stomach contents of invertebrate predators.—J. appl. Ecol. 14, 457–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, J. A. & Cross, T. F. (1975). Immunoelectroosmophoresis for serological identification of predators of the sheep tick Ixodes ricinus.—Oikos 26, 97–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laemmli, U. K. (1970). Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of the bacteriophage T4.—Nature, Lond. 227, 680–685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lund, R. D. & Turpin, F. T. (1977). Serological investigation of black cutworm larval consumption by ground beetles.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 70, 322–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Service, M. W. (1976). Mosquito ecology. Field sampling methods.—583 pp. London, Applied Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Southwood, T. R. E. (1978). Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations.—2nd edn, 524 pp. London, Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar