Abstract
Biological control requires specific tools for the accurate detection and identification of natural enemies in order to estimate variations in their abundance and their impact according to changes in environmental conditions or agricultural practices. Here, we developed two molecular methods of detection based on PCR-RFLP with universal primers and on PCR with specific primers to identify commonly occurring larval parasitoids of the tortricid fruit pests and to estimate parasitism in the codling moth. Both methods were designed based on DNA sequences of the COI mitochondrial gene for a range of parasitoids that emerged from Cydia pomonella and Grapholitamolesta caterpillars (102 parasitoids; nine species) and a range of potential tortricid hosts (40 moths; five species) damaging fruits. The PCR-RFLP method (digestion by AluI of a 482 bp COI fragment) was very powerful to identify parasitoid adults and their hosts, but failed to detect parasitoid larvae within eggs or within young C. pomonella caterpillars. The PCR method based on specific primers amplified COI fragments of different lengths (131 to 463 bp) for Ascogaster quadridentata (Braconidae); Pristomerusvulnerator (Ichneumonidae); Trichomma enecator (Ichneumonidae); and Perilampus tristis (Perilampidae), and demonstrated a higher level of sensibility than the PCR-RFLP method. Molecular estimations of parasitism levels in a natural C. pomonella population with the specific primers did not differ from traditional estimations based on caterpillar rearing (about 60% parasitism in a non-treated apple orchard). These PCR-based techniques provide information about within-host parasitoid assemblage in the codling moth and preliminary results on the larval parasitism of major tortricid fruit pests.