Emilio Guerrieri

• PhD in Entomology
• CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche at Institute of Sustainable Plant Protection IPSP

Societal Impact Statement Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) impact the relationships between plants, aphids (insects that feed on plant phloem), and their natural enemies (insects that prey on or parasitize aphids). The presence of AMF influences the growth and population of different aphid species and affects the development of aphid‐killing wasp...

Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae), the cotton mealybug, is an invasive polyphagous species that has been extending its geographic range, posing a conspicuous threat to many Mediterranean crops of economic importance. These include three species of Solanaceae, namely Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato), Solanum tub...

Root exudation could be harnessed for ecological and applied research

Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that include as many as 500 000 estimated species. Capturing phylogenetic signal from such a massive radiation can be daunting. Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. We combined 1007 exons obtained with Anchored Hybrid Enrichme...

Context Maintaining a balance between semi-natural habitats and arable land is not always feasible for farmers. The promotion of biological control agents can be addressed through management at farm or field level, and/or by deploying lower intensity, biodiversity-friendly practices which can act either directly or indirectly through their effect o...

In pioneering studies on plant-aphid interactions, we have observed that Vicia faba plants infested by aphids can transmit signals via the rhizosphere that induce aboveground defence in intact, neighbouring plants. The aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi is significantly attracted towards intact broad bean plants grown in a hydroponic solution previousl...

The generalist predator Nesidiocoris tenuis, an effective biological control agent of numerous pests of the tomato crops, can also trigger plant defence mechanisms (direct and indirect) due to its phytophagous behaviour. In southern Europe, Nesidi-ocoris tenuis is frequently released in tomato greenhouses to control the invasive pest Tuta absoluta,...

Differences in the semi-natural vegetation of field margins will affect the biological control services derived from the presence of these semi-natural habitats adjacent to fields. Of the plant functional traits that are most relevant for insects, plant life forms reflect different aspects of plant structure and functioning that can help predict th...

Main conclusion Dissimilar patterns of variants affecting genes involved in response to herbivory, including those leading to difference in VOC production, were identified in tomato lines with contrasting response to Tuta absoluta . Abstract Tuta absoluta is one of the most destructive insect pest affecting tomato production, causing important yie...

While mechanisms of plant–plant communication for alerting neighbouring plants of an imminent insect herbivore attack have been described aboveground via the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), we are yet to decipher the specific components of plant–plant signalling belowground. Using bioassay‐guided fractionation, we isolated and iden...

For over a decade, the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) has threatened the soft-skinned fruit production worldwide, causing increased management costs and yield losses. Current integrated pest management (IPM) exploits different control tools but relies mainly on insecticides. The local natural enemy community mostly consists of genera...

Capturing phylogenetic signal from a massive radiation can be daunting. The superfamily Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that until now included 27 families, 87 subfamilies and as many as 500,000 estimated species. We comb...

Philaenus spumarius is a cosmopolitan species that has become a major threat to European agriculture being recognized as the main vector of the introduced plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, the agent of the “olive quick decline syndrome”, a disease which is devastating olive orchards in southern Italy. Wolbachia are bacterial symbionts of many inse...

Trichoderma spp. are among the most widely used plant beneficial fungi in agriculture. Its interaction with the plant triggers resistance responses by the activation of Induced Systemic Resistance mediated by Jasmonic acid and Ethylene and/or Systemic Acquired Resistance, which involves Salicylic acid, with the consequent control of a wide range of...

Trichoderma spp. are among the most widely used plant beneficial fungi in agriculture. A novel approach to enhance their effectiveness in plant defense is to use the fungi in combination with bioactive molecules including plant-derived compounds. Here, we show that plant treatment with Trichoderma afroharzianum (strain T22) and Systemin (Sys), a to...

The characterization of behavioural cues involved in the location of a host-plant by a phytophagous insect allows the elaboration of tools that can be exploited in the sustainable protection of cultivated plants. In this context, the identification of the blend of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) released by a host plant can be profitably used for...

Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera Cynipidae) was first recorded in Sardinia (Italy) in 2007. Two years later, a biological control program started with the introduction of its non-native parasitoid, Torymus sinensis Kamijo (Hymenoptera Torymidae). Over a nine-year period (2009-2017), data on the relative abundance of D. kuriphilus, its n...

Understanding and predicting potential competitive outcomes is critical in the design of biological control programs when considering multiple agent introductions. Tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) include some of the most destructive pests of fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. Parasitoid guilds of fruit-infesting tephritids are domina...

Molecular identification is increasingly used to speed up biodiversity surveys and laboratory experiments. However, many groups of organisms cannot be reliably identified using standard databases such as GenBank or BOLD due to lack of sequenced voucher specimens identified by experts. Sometimes a large number of sequences are available, but with to...

Within Hymenoptera, the superfamily Chalcidoidea (chalcidoid wasps) is the second largest superfamily after Ichneumonoidea. Because of the preponderance of parasitoid species, Chalcidoidea is one of the most important groups in applied biological control. This book provides a comprehensive, accurate checklists for the chalcidoid fauna of Iran. The...

Molecular identification is increasingly used to speed up biodiversity surveys and laboratory experiments. However, many groups of organisms cannot be reliably identified using standard databases such as GenBank or BOLD due to lack of sequenced voucher specimens identified by experts. Sometimes a large number of sequences are available, but with to...

Within Hymenoptera, the superfamily Chalcidoidea (chalcidoid wasps) is the second largest superfamily after Ichneumonoidea. Because of the preponderance of parasitoid species, Chalcidoidea is one of the most important groups in applied biological control. This book provides a comprehensive, accurate checklists for the chalcidoid fauna of Iran. The...

Ooencyrtus gonoceri Viggiani (Hymenoptera Encyrtidae) is a poorly known egg parasitoid species with an apparently rare occurrence in the Mediterranean basin. It was originally identified in southern Italy emerging from Gonocerus acuteangulatus (Goeze) eggs and successively recorded also from Spain. Recently O. gonoceri emerged from sentinel egg bat...

In the search for native Asian parasitoids of Drosophila suzukii, the notorious spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD), an odd new species of Eucoilinae was discovered. Leptopilina lasallei sp. nov. is herein described and diagnosed relative to other eucoilines associated with drosophilid hosts. Morphologically, L. lasallei is somewhat aberrant within Lepto...

This paper is a contribution to the characterisation by an integrated approach of the species Microterys chalcostomus (Dalman), a parasitoid of mealybugs and apparently a predator of kermesid eggs. Until now, the species, whose type is in good condition, could be identified only by the meagre original description by Dalman and subsequent notes by G...

The round table discussion has addressed the major issues related to classical biological control in Italy, with a special attention to the last successes and failures and to the current regulation limits of the practice in the country. The research institutions involved in classical biological control of plant pests released a declaration where th...

The meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius, is a highly polyphagous widespread species, playing a major role in the transmission of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa subspecies pauca, the agent of the “Olive Quick Decline Syndrome”. Essential oils (EOs) are an important source of bio-active volatile compounds that could interfere with basic metaboli...

Plant defense peptides represent an important class of compounds active against pathogens and insects. These molecules controlling immune barriers can potentially be used as novel tools for plant protection, which mimic natural defense mechanisms against invaders. The constitutive expression in tomato plants of the precursor of the defense peptide...

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) and host sex pheromones are important semiochemicals used by natural enemies to locate prey or hosts. The egg parasitoid Trichogramma achaeae Nagaraja & Nagarkatti has recently shown potential for use as a biological control agent of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), a key pest of tomato crops worldwide. In this stu...

Numerous microbial root symbionts are known to induce different levels of enhanced plant protection against a variety of pathogens. However, more recent studies have demonstrated that beneficial microbes are able to induce plant systemic resistance that confers some degree of protection against insects. Here, we report how treatments with the funga...

The scope of this project was the collection of data and information on biology, phenology and control of vectors and potential vectors of Xylella fastidiosa (referred to, from now on, as Xf vectors). Systematic literature searches covering the different topics were conducted on authoritative databases indexing peer-reviewed scientific publications...

Scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) are key pests of agricultural crops and ornamental plants worldwide. Their populations are difficult to control, even with insecticides, due to their cryptic habits. Moreover, there is growing concern over the use of synthetic pesticides for their control, due to deleterious environmental effec...

Drosophila suzukii is native to East Asia and an invasive pest of fruit crops widely established in the Americas and Europe. The lack of effective indigenous parasitoids of D. suzukii in the invaded regions prompted surveys for co-evolved parasitoids in Yunnan Province, China, from 2013-2016. From banana-baited traps (2013-2015) 458 parasitoids of...

Delottococcus aberiae is an invasive mealybug native to South Africa that has been accidentally introduced into Spain. A survey of natural enemies in its native area to potentially be used for biological control of this pest resulted in a number of species, among which four belonged to the genus Anagyrus. Following an integrative approach using mor...

A correction to an oversight in a recently published checklist of Iranian species of Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) is presented, along with recommended amendments, resulting in 173 species belonging to 51 genera.

Ooencyrtus spp. (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) are important natural enemies of agricultural and forest insect pests, and are distributed worldwide. Their reduced dimensions, highly variable morphological characters and possible effect of wide host range and abiotic factors, make correct identification at the species level particularly dif...

1. Parasitoid females foraging for hosts rely on cues derived from the insect host, the host plant and/or their interaction, and all of these can be learned during the immature and adult stages. 2. The present study investigated the importance of rearing history on foraging behaviour of Diaeretiella rapae, an endoparasitoid often associated with ap...

Retention time and principal ion of each compound.

Analysis of variance on single variables referred to Figures 1, 2 and Supplementary Figure S1.

Results of pairwise multivariate analysis of variance by permutation among VOCs released by tomato plants (see Table 2 for treatments). Significant values are in bold.

(A–C) Biometric parameters and (D) chlorophyll content index (CCI) and of AM- and AM+ tomato plants upon unstressed and water stressed (MS and SS) conditions. All data are expressed as mean ± SD. ns, ∗, ∗∗, ∗∗∗: non-significant or significant at P ≤ 0.05, P ≤ 0.01, and P ≤ 0.001, respectively. Different letters above the bars indicate significant d...

List of the oligonucleotides used in this study.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are very widespread, forming symbiotic associations with ∼80% of land plant species, including almost all crop plants. These fungi are considered of great interest for their use as biofertilizer in low-input and organic agriculture. In addition to an improvement in plant nutrition, AM fungi have been reported to en...

The invasion of new regions by exotic pests has been more than ever a critical issue that warrants coordinated international actions to manage established populations and prevent further spreading. Invasive insects can undermine the ecological equilibrium of both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Moreover, increasing temperatures due to climatic...

Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) are key pests of agricultural crops and ornamental plants worldwide. Their populations are difficult to control, even with insecticides, due to their cryptic habits. Moreover, there is growing concern over the use of synthetic pesticides for their control, due to deleterious environmental effects and the emergen...

Following herbivore attacks, plants modify a blend of volatiles organic compounds (VOCs) released, resulting in the attraction of their antagonists. However, volatiles released constitutively may affect herbivores and natural enemies' fitness too. In tomato there is still a lack of information on the genetic bases responsible for the constitutive r...

New additions to the Iranian fauna are reported. Three new species of Encyrtidae, Anagyrus osmoi sp. nov., Metaphycus prengoi sp. nov., and Microterys obricoi sp. nov., are described. Three new records, Anagyrus saccharicola Timberlake, 1932, Copidosoma filicorne (Dalman, 1820) and Paranathrix acanthococci (Myartseva, 1977) and one note are reporte...

The Asian Gall Wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus was accidentally introduced into Italy in 2004. Since then it has spread all over the peninsula where chestnut represents an economic important fruit crop. In 2005 the pest arrived in Campania, where about 40% of Italian and 25% of European chestnut production is concentrated, with devastating consequences....

Plants release a broad spectrum of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The composition of the released VOC blend is dependent on the physiological status and, consequently, is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. Stress-related VOCs can be perceived by different organisms, including natural enemies of herbivores and neighboring plants. Here, the...

Genetically modified (GM) plants may show unintended differences compared to the original varieties, due to the modification process. Such differences might in some cases affect non-target organisms linked to the crop into an agro-ecosystem. In this paper, we aimed to study interactions of two blight-resistant GM potato clones with the aphid specie...

The species Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is currently being considered as a candidate for augmentative biological control agent (BCA) against several pests, including Halyomorpha halys (Sta l) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). Protocols for mass production of a BCA need fundamental information on its biological attribute...

Plants actively respond to herbivory by inducing various defense mechanisms in both damaged (locally) and non-damaged tissues (systemically). In addition, it is currently widely accepted that plantto- plant communication allows specific neighbors to be warned of likely incoming stress (defense priming). Systemin is a plant peptide hormone promoting...

Many fungal root symbionts of the genus Trichoderma are well-known for their beneficial effects on agronomic performance and protection against plant pathogens; moreover, they may enhance protection from insect pests, by triggering plant resistance mechanisms. Defense barriers against insects are induced by the activation of metabolic pathways invo...

Soil microbial mutualists of plants, including mycorrhizal fungi, non-mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, have been typically characterized for increasing nutrient acquisition and plant growth. More recently, soil microbes have also been shown to increase direct plant defence against above- and belowground herbivores. Plants...

There is an urgent need to develop new interventions to manage pests because evolution of pesticide resistance and changes in legislation are limiting conventional control options for farmers. We investigated b-aminobutyric acid (BABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and fructose as possible plant defence activators against grey mould disease, Botrytis cinerea...

In the last few decades, incredible advances have been made in characterising the nature, the origin and the function of plant volatile compounds. These molecules/blends regulate important functions of plant life linked to primary and secondary metabolism. In this chapter, I will focus on the role of these compounds in plant defence against insects...

The invasive spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Dipt.: Drosophilidae), a native of East Asia, has widely established in North America and Europe, where it is a serious pest of small and stone fruit crops. The lack of effective indigenous parasitoids of D. suzukii in the recently colonized regions prompted the first foreign explo...

A multidisciplinary approach, involving eco-physiological, morphometric, biochemical and molecular analyses, has been used to study the impact of two different AM fungi, i.e. Funneliformis mosseae and Rhizophagus intraradices, on tomato response to water stress. Overall, results show that AM symbiosis positively affects the tolerance to drought in...

Pseudococcus comstocki (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a mealybug species native to Eastern Asia and present as an invasive pest in northern Italy and southern France since the start of the century. It infests apple and pear trees, grapevines and some ornamental trees. Biocontrol programmes against this pest proved successful in central Asia and Nor...

In classical biocontrol programs a rapid and correct identification of the introduced antagonist is a key issue during both the release and establishment monitoring phases. It is often difficult to distinguish morphologically cryptic species or immature stages. An accurate diagnosis can now be provided by molecular diagnostic methods. Among the con...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which form symbioses with the roots of the most important crop species, are usually considered bio-fertilizers, whose exploitation could represent a promising avenue for the development in the future of a more sustainable next-generation agriculture. The best understood function in symbiosis is an improvement in p...

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), commonly known as Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), is a worldwide serious economic threat to the production of berries and stone fruits. The chemical control widely used against this pest is often not able to preventing yield losses because wild flora offers an abundance of fruits to D. suzukii where the pest is able t...

Uncorrected p-distance (number of base differences per site) between COI sequences of Asobara species. (XLS)

Intraspecific uncorrected p-distances (number of base differences per site) from averaging over all COI sequence pairs within each Asobara species. (XLS)

Interspecific uncorrected p-distances (number of base differences per site) from averaging over all COI sequence pairs between Asobara species. Standard error estimates are shown above the diagonal. (XLS)

Attraverso un approccio multidisciplinare, è oggi possibile da un lato caratterizzare tassonomicamente i nemici naturali degli insetti dannosi e dall'altro " conservarli " e " attrarli " attraverso l'uso di piante e/o di sostanze di origine vegetale, nelle aree dove è più necessaria la loro azione

Infochemicals play an important role in structuring intra- and interspecific interactions. Many parasitoid wasp species rely on herbivory or oviposition-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs/OIPVs) to locate their herbivorous hosts, and must cope with variation in the volatile blends due to factors such as plant/host species, herbivore density or attack b...

In the last decade plant-to-plant communication has received an increasing attention, particularly for the role of Volatile Organic Compounds as possible elicitors of plant defense. The role of β-ocimene as an interspecific elicitor of plant defense has been recently assessed in multitrophic systems including different plant species (Solanaceae, Po...

Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), commonly known as the tomato borer, is native to South America and has rapidly spread in various European countries becoming one of the major threats of tomato crop. The parasitic wasp Trichogramma achaeae Nagaraja and Nagarkatti (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) has been suggested as a possible biol...

Delottococcus aberiae De Lotto (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a mealybug of Southern African origin that has recently been introduced into Eastern Spain. It causes severe distortions on young citrus fruits and represents a growing threat to Mediterranean citrus production. So far, biological control has proven unsatisfactory due to the absence of e...

Pest control through integrated pest management systems stands as a very convenient sustainable hazard-free alternative to pesticides, which are a growing global concern if overused. The ability of the soprano pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) to control the rice borer moth (Chilo supressalis), which constitutes a major pest of rice around th...

The parasitoid complex of the Asian chestnut gall wasp Drycosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu was studied in Calabria (Italy). A total of 14 different species of parasitoids were collected, of which three are recorded on the Asian gall wasp for the first time. The composition of the parasitoid complex collected in Calabria was compared with that reported f...

In this manuscript, we report the isolation and characterization of two secondary metabolites produced by a Gnomoniopsis castanea strain isolated in the Campania region (Italy) from chestnut galls infested with Dryocosmus kuriphilus. The compounds, purified from the fungal culture filtrate by using preparative HPLC-DAD, showed the same spectroscopi...

In 2007, a 3-year survey was started in northeastern Italy to assess the influence of agricultural management on parasitoid composition and parasitism rates of parasitoids attacking larvae and pupae of Syrphidae (Diptera). Two types of management were considered – intensive (including wheat and maize monoculture with very low or null vegetation div...

The genus Copidosoma (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) is a diverse group of polyembryonic parasitoids of Lepidoptera, including species that have the potential to control agricultural and forestry pests. Moreover, some species of Copidosoma display polyembryony. Despite their economic and scientific importance, little is known about the phylo...

The invasive Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera Cynipidae) is a major pest of Castanea spp. in Asia, the USA and Europe. The aim of this study is to characterize the parasitoid community associated to D. kuriphilus in Tuscany and determine their relative occurrence, before the introduction of the exotic parasitoid Torymus sinensis Kamijo....

Belowground and aboveground plant-insect-microorganism interactions are complex and regulate most of the developmental responses of important crop plants such as tomato. We investigated the influence of root colonization by a non-mycorrhizal Plant Growth Promoting Fungus (PGPF) on direct and indirect defences of tomato plant against aphids. The mul...