Plant-associated odor perception and processing in two parasitoid species with different degrees of host specificity: Implications for host location strategies

AbstractCuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) of host insects are used by many parasitic wasps as contact kairomones for host location and recognition. As the chemical composition of CHCs varies from species to species, the CHC pattern represents a reliable indicator for parasitoids to discriminate host from non-host species. Holepyris sylvanidis is an ectoparasitoid of beetle larvae infesting stored products. Previous studies demonstrated that the larval CHC profile of the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum, comprises long chain linear and methyl-branched alkanes (methyl alkanes), which elicit trail following and host recognition in H. sylvanidis. Here we addressed the question, whether different behavioral responses of this parasitoid species to larvae of other beetle species are due to differences in the larval CHC pattern. Our study revealed that H. sylvanidis recognizes and accepts larvae of T. confusum, T. castaneum and T. destructor as hosts, whereas larvae of Oryzaephilus surinamensis were rejected. However, the latter species became attractive after applying a sample of T. confusum larval CHCs to solvent extracted larvae. Chemical analyses of the larval extracts revealed that CHC profiles of the Tribolium species were similar in their composition, while that of O. surinamensis differed qualitatively and quantitatively, i.e. methyl alkanes were present as minor components on the cuticle of all Tribolium larvae, but were absent in the O. surinamensis CHC profile. Furthermore, the parasitoid successfully recognized solvent extracted T. confusum larvae as hosts after they had been treated with a fraction of methyl alkanes. Our results show that methyl alkanes are needed for host recognition by H. sylvanidis.

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Different uses of plant semiochemicals in host location strategies of the two tachinid parasitoids

The Science of Nature ◽

10.1007/s00114-012-0950-0 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 99 (9) ◽

pp. 687-694 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Ryoko T. Ichiki ◽

Giang T. T. Ho ◽

Eric Wajnberg ◽

Yooichi Kainoh ◽

Jun Tabata ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Host Location ◽

Location Strategies

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Response To Kairomones By Some Alysiine and Eucoilid Parasitoid Species (Hymenoptera)

Netherlands Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1163/002829685x00343 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 486-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Louise E.M. Vet

Keyword(s):

Host Species ◽

Host Location ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Parasitoid Species ◽

Larval Parasitoids

Larval parasitoids of frugivorous Drosophila as well as related parasitoid species that attack Drosophila or Fannia species in mushrooms use water soluble larval kairomones in host location. Parasitoids of fungivorous flies allocate more searching time to patches containing a filtrate of mushrooms infested with host larvae compared to patches with a filtrate of uninfested mushrooms. Filtrates of mushrooms infested with a non-host species do not increase their searching time. Studies with parasitoids of frugivorous Drosophila showed that the ability to recognize kairomone is acquired through learning. Females without oviposition experience do not respond differently to patches with and without kairomone. Parasitoids that had learned the kairomone of one drosophilid host species also recognized the kairomone of another host species, which suggests that kairomones from Drosophilidae may be similar.

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Are synthetic pheromone captures predictive of parasitoid densities as a kairomonal attracted tool?

Journal of Entomological and Acarological Research ◽

10.4081/jear.2011.23 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 23 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mohamed Hassan Bayoumy ◽

Mehmet Bora Kydan ◽

Ferenc Kozár

Keyword(s):

Sex Pheromones ◽

Host Location ◽

Pheromone Traps ◽

Adult Males ◽

Parasitoid Species ◽

Synthetic Pheromone ◽

Wide Range ◽

Pseudaulacaspis Pentagona ◽

Sticky Tape ◽

White Peach Scale

Abundance of White Peach scale (WPS), Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti) and San José scale (SJS), Diaspidiotus perniciosus (Comstock) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) adult males and their attracted parasitoids were monitored using pheromone and sticky tape traps in an orchard of Budapest, Hungary, during 2010. In this study, we tried answer on the question raised whether synthetic commercial pheromones of WSP or SJS could work as a kairomonal stimulant and positively attract higher numbers of the specialized parasitoids. Although pheromone traps attracted a wide range of parasitoid species, most of them were accidentally. However, the parasitoid Thomsonisca amathus (Walker) (Hymenoptera: E ncyrtidae) and the parasitoid Encarsia perniciosi (Tower) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) significantly respond to the sex pheromones of WPS and SJS, respectively, suggesting that they may play an important role in host location.

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Differential electroantennogram response of females and males of two parasitoid species to host-related green leaf volatiles and inducible compounds

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485307005172 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 97 (5) ◽

pp. 515-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

L. Chen ◽

H.Y. Fadamiro

Keyword(s):

Host Location ◽

Green Leaf Volatiles ◽

Green Leaf ◽

Cotesia Marginiventris ◽

Feeding Damage ◽

Parasitoid Species ◽

Plant Host ◽

Leaf Volatiles ◽

Antennal Response ◽

Different Types

AbstractParasitoids employ different types of host-related volatile signals for foraging and host-location. Host-related volatile signals can be plant-based, originate from the herbivore host or produced from an interaction between herbivores and their plant host. In order to investigate potential sex- and species-related differences in the antennal response of parasitoids to different host-related volatiles, we compared the electroantennogram (EAG) responses of both sexes of the specialist parasitoid, Microplitis croceipes (Cresson), and the generalist, Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson), to varying doses of selected plant-based host-related volatiles: two green leaf volatiles (cis-3-hexenol and hexanal) and three inducible compounds (cis-3-hexenyl acetate, linalool, and (E,E)-α-farnesene). Mating had no significant effect on EAG response. Females of both species showed significantly greater EAG responses than conspecific males to green leaf volatiles, which are released immediately after initiation of herbivore feeding damage. In contrast, males showed greater responses than conspecific females to inducible compounds released much later after initial damage. Cotesia marginiventris females and males showed greater EAG responses than counterpart M. croceipes to the tested compounds at various doses, suggesting that the generalist parasitoid shows greater antennal sensitivity than the specialist to the tested host-plant volatiles. These results are discussed in relation to the possible roles of green leaf volatiles and inducible compounds in the ecology of female and male parasitoids.

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Host specificity, host location and dispersal: experimental conclusions from freshwater mites (Unionicola spp.) parasitizing unionid mussels

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182000062090 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 98 (2) ◽

pp. 189-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

J. Barbara Downes

Keyword(s):

Host Specificity ◽

Host Location ◽

Freshwater Mussels ◽

Unionid Mussels ◽

Specific Species

SUMMARYParasites with low host specificity are predicted to search for hosts in ways less specific than highly host-specific species. They may also be better dispersers. Unionicolan mites that parasitize mussels are positively phototactic, with some species becoming negatively phototactic when host substances are present. This response has been interpreted as an aid to host location and occurs in species where adult mites have a relatively permanent association with hosts. Three species of Unionicola (Unionicolidae: Acari) that differ in host specificity co-occur in freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in St Mark's River in north Florida.

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Competition between Catolaccus grandis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) and Bracon vulgaris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), parasitoids of the Boll Weevil

Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology ◽

10.1590/s1516-89132007000300002 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 371-378 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Francisco de Sousa Ramalho ◽

Ana Maria Camêlo da Silva ◽

José Cola Zanuncio ◽

José Eduardo Serrão

Keyword(s):

Host Location ◽

Adult Stage ◽

Boll Weevil ◽

The Other ◽

Biological Parameters ◽

Alternative Host ◽

Parasitoid Species ◽

Euscepes Postfasciatus ◽

Catolaccus Grandis ◽

Better Than

The competition between populations of the parasitoids C. grandis and B. vulgaris was studied using larvae of Euscepes postfasciatus (Fairmaire) as an alternative host. A series of biological parameters was observed and related to the competitive abilities of both parasitoid species. They were capable of colonizing and maintaining their populations regardless of host location. The population growth of C. grandis and B. vulgaris, based on fecundity was not affected by the competition. The parasitism and survivorship to the adult stage were affected by competition, except when the host was located at the bottom of the rearing cage. C. grandis performed better than B. vulgaris independently of the competition and host location, but it did not exclude the other species.

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