Data from: Temporal snapshot of parasitoid wasp communities on three flowering plant species and implications for the regulation of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea) in apple orchards

Parasitoid wasps contribute to biological control services. Parasitoid
adults are highly dependent on sugar-rich resources. Adding flowering
plants providing nectar in crop fields promotes parasitoid wasps, but not
always pest parasitism because addition of flowering plants may attract
parasitoid species that are not directly involved in the control of crop
pests. Here, in a factorial experiment conducted for one year in
pesticide-free orchards, we analysed the effects of three common plant
species (Capsella bursa-pastoris Medik., Veronica persica Poir. and Vicia
sativa L.) in association with apple trees on parasitoid wasp recruitment
and parasitism of one major apple pest, Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini).
We combined morphological and molecular identification to characterise the
parasitoid communities associated with each plant species. Parasitoid
communities were different between plant species. Plant effect on the
abundance of the parasitoid wasps did not depend on the amount of floral
resources provided by the tested plants. Over the whole season, the
parasitoid wasp species Ephedrus persicae (Froggatt) and Aphidius
matricariae (Haliday) involved in D. plantaginea parasitism accounted for
6% of the total parasitoid abundance and were mainly associated with V.
persica plots. We observed a higher parasitism rate in apple trees
associated with V. persica and a lower number of aphid colonies in apple
trees associated with V. sativa. Hoverver, plant treatments had no effect,
neither on the abundance of D. plantaginea in apple trees, nor on
generalist predators and ants observed in aphid colonies in agreement with
their limited implication in the aphid regulation.