No abstract

The host preference behaviour of the generalist aphid parasitoid Aphidius colemani was investigated using a Y-tube olfactometer. Female A. colemani showed a preference for the host-plant complex on which they had been reared, even though the same aphid host was involved, demonstrating a host plant preference. This preference was not evident when the parasitoids were dissected from their mummies prior to adult emergence. Host plant preference exhibited during host selection appeared to be induced by chemical cues encountered on the mummy case at the time of emergence, but preferences could be changed by subsequent foraging experiences. It is concluded that plant chemical cues play a major role in determining initial preferences through a process of emergence conditioning but that learning processes, involving cues encountered during oviposition in or contact with the host, can modify these initial preferences.

Redução do Crescimento, Deformidades e Mortalidade de Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Causadas por Azadiractina RESUMO -A azadiractina é o composto mais eficiente extraído da planta Azadirachta indica A. Juss, com propriedades insecticidas e que afetam o crescimento de diversas espécies de insetos. Seus efeitos no desenvolvimento e na sobrevivência de Spodoptora littoralis (Boisduval) foram estudados em condições de laboratório. Larvas de terceiro ínstar foram aliementada individualmente em dieta artificial tratada com azadiractina (de 0,01 ppm a 1 ppm p/v), por dois dias, e transferidas para dieta pura. A sobrevivência, a duração dos estágios e deformidades foram observados diariamente. Em um segundo experimento, os efeitos da azadiractina sobre lagartas de terceiro ínstar e lagartas de último ínstar foram comparados, após alimentar as lagartas por dois dias, utilizando-se 0,3 ppm e 0,6 ppm do composto e uma testemunha (água). O período de dois dias de alimentação prolongou os ínstares larvais, reduziu a taxa média de crescimento relativo (MRGR), impediu a ecdise, provocou anormalidades morfológicas e causou mortalidade em S. littoralis, de forma dependente da dose. Quando as concentrações mais altas foram empregadas, os efeitos aparecerem logo após o tratamento e a mortalidade foi mais elevada. Muitos insetos morreram após permanecerem inativos por vários dias ou durante ecdises prolongadas. Em concentrações mais baixas, se a ecdise foi completada, alterações no crescimento e anormalidades geralmente ocorreram nos estádios subseqüêntes. Quando a azadiractina foi oferecida às lagartas de último ínstar, intermediários "larva-pupa" foram produzidos e a mortalidade foi mais alta do que para as lagartas de terceiro ínstar. A azadiractina se mostrou promissora para o controle de S. littoralis não apenas por causar mortalidade, mas também por afetar o desenvolvimento e por causar deformidades envolvidas em atividades vitais dos insetos como alimentar-se, caminhar ou voar, o que pode torná-los vulneráveis a diversos tipos de agentes de mortalidade ou evitar que os mesmos causem dano à cultura.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Insecta, Azadirachta indica, nim, inseticida botânico, intermediário larvapupa.ABSTRACT -Azadirachtin is the most effective compound of the neem tree, Azadirachta indica A. Juss, with insecticidal and growth disruption properties on several species of insects. Its effects on the development and survival of Spodoptora littoralis (Boisduval) were studied under laboratory conditions. Third-instar larvae were individually fed on artificial diet treated with azadirachtin (from 0.01 ppm to 1 ppm wt/v), for two days, and transferred to plain diet. Survival, duration of stages and deformities were recorded daily. In a second experiment, the effects of azadirachtin on 3 rd instar larvae and on last instar larvae were compared, by feeding the larvae with treated diet (0.3 ppm, 0.6 ppm and a control group), during the same period. A two-day feeding period promoted prolongation of the larval insta...

No abstract

Abstract. Adult female parasitoids (Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stef.) (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) reared on the aphid Metopolophium dirhodum (Walk.) (Homoptera: Aphididae) changed their responses to odours of two wheat cultivars (‘Maris Huntsman’ and ‘Rapier’) when the parasitized aphids had been moved from the former to the latter cultivar at various times after parasitization. If the aphids were moved after less than 6 days, the female parasitoids emerging from mummies by then formed on ‘Rapier’ responded positively to that cultivar, whereas parasitoids emerging from mummies transferred as still living aphids after 8 days on ‘Maris Huntsman’, responded positively to that cultivar rather than to ‘Rapier’ on which they had emerged. This appeared to be evidence for Hopkins' ‘host selection principle’, which states that chemical experience acquired by the larva of an endopterygote insect can be transferred through the pupal stage to the adult. However, discrimination in favour of either cultivar disappeared when the parasitoids were reared in aphids on both cultivars, and the emerging females were tested following excision of the pupae from the aphid mummies. The previous discrimination shown by adult parasitoids emerging from aphid mummies must therefore be determined by the chemicals contacted by a parasitoid on the skin of the mummy or while biting its way out of the dead aphid.