Seasonal dynamics of an urban leafhopper community in Metchosin, British Columbia: Investigating diversity trends, parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae) relationships, and the potential for a definsive symbiosis
Date
2022
Authors
Hickli, Hannah
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Abstract
Descriptions of leafhopper (Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) communities in non-agricultural urban environments are lacking, despite leafhoppers being diverse and abundant members of cosmopolitan trophic webs. As abundant herbivores, leafhoppers have the potential to form associations with defensive endosymbionts that mediate trophic interactions with their natural enemies. This study provides the first description of leafhopper diversity and their associations with dryinid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae) in Metchosin, British Columbia. Using morphospecies sorting and barcoding of mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I, 23 taxa were shown to form a community dominated by generalist leafhoppers Dikraneura mali and Ribautiana debilis (Typhlocybinae). Seasonal trends, including periods of highest abundance, species richness, and parasitism, were largely consistent over two years of collection, peaking in late September, late June, and August/September, respectively. The largest difference between years was found in leafhopper abundance and rates of occurrence of dryinid parasitoids. Parasitism rates suggest dryinids may be an important natural enemy of R. debilis in this community and a previously unknown association was revealed between hosts R. debilis and D. mali and their unidentified dryinid parasitoid. Examining the 16S rRNA amplicon libraries of D. mali and R. debilis revealed a Rickettsia bellii-like endosymbiont with 100% infection frequency in a subset of D. mali and a Wolbachia endosymbiont in R. debilis. Trophic interactions of leafhoppers, dryinids, and symbionts in this community deserve further investigation.