Summary 0[ The intra!patch experience acquired by foraging parasitoid females has often been considered to have a strong in~uence on their tendency to leave a patch\ and thus on their total patch residence time[ Most studies that have been performed on this subject suggest that the patch!leaving rules observed are adaptive because they enable the females to adjust their patch residence time to local environmental conditions[ 1[ Considering a behavioural rule as being adaptive supposes that it has been pro! gressively settled by natural selection\ and thus that there is\ in the population\ genetic variation on which the natural selection could act[ 2[ Therefore\ this study aimed to discover whether there was indeed genetic variability in the patch!leaving decision rules in a population of the egg parasitoid species Telenomus busseolae\ which attacks patches of its hosts\ the eggs of Sesamia nonag! rioides[ Di}erent wasp families were compared using the isofemale lines method\ and the behavioural records were analysed by means of a modi_ed version of the Cox|s
SUMMARYWe have studied the courtship behaviour of Trichopria drosophilae Perkins (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae), a pupal parasitoid of the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae), to understand the role of the antennae. Virgin pairs of the parasitoid perform an intense and stereotyped antennal courtship, which leads to copulation. During antennation, the two male fourth antennomeres come into contact with the two apical female antennomeres, and thus the secretion produced by the sex pheromone gland is spread onto the female receptors. By preventing the transfer of the courtship pheromone from male to female antennae, mating was inhibited. Moreover, selective ablation of single antennae demonstrated that the courtship pheromone acts on contact. When antennae of both sexes were partially removed (ablation at the same side, i.e. right or left) courtship was successful and copulation occurred. In contrast, in the case of antennal ablation at opposite sides, courtship failed despite the short distance between secretion and receptors. These results confirm the hypothesis that T. drosophilae male antennal glands are the release site of a contact courtship pheromone, playing a key role in mating behaviour. The occurrence of male antennal glands in Hymenoptera and other insect orders is discussed.
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