A common mode of attraction of larvae and adults of insect predators to the sex pheromone of their prey (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae)

Abstract

The attraction of several adult predators, genera Elatophilus, Hemerobius and Sympherobius, to the sex pheromones of pine bast scales, Matsucoccus Cockerell, has already been demonstrated. Here, the hypothesis that the larvae of these predators are similarly attracted to the host prey sex pheromone is tested. The response of predators was tested in field trials using pine tree arenas baited with the sex pheromones of M. josephi Bodenheimer & Harpaz, M. feytaudi Ducasse and M. matsumurae Kuwana. Experiments were conducted in Israel in stands of Pinus halepensis infested by M. josephi and in Portugal in stands of P. pinaster infested by M. feytaudi, respectively. The selectivity of larvae for the three sex pheromones was tested in Petri dish arenas in the laboratory. In the field, the larval stages exhibited similar modes of attraction to those of the conspecific adults: Elatophilus hebraicus Pericart in Aleppo pine forest, E. crassicornis Reuter and Hemerobius stigma Stephens in the maritime pine forests. Laboratory choice tests confirmed the kairomonal selectivity of larvae. Both forest and laboratory tests demonstrated the response of a coccinellid of the genus Rhyzobius to the sex pheromones of M. feytaudi and M. matsumurae. A unique chemical communication system among several taxa of predators of Matsucoccus spp. was highlighted that may be attributed to their coevolution on a geological time scale.

Los crisópidos de la Península Ibérica y Baleares (Insecta, Neuropterida, Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

“…La localización de sus presas a través de sus secreciones, kairomonas, alomonas y/o feromonas ha sido frecuentemente registrada, y sobre ellas pueden llegar a ser extremadamente voraces (Withycombe, 1925;Principi, 1954bPrincipi, , 1984Tjeder, 1966;Canard, 1973aCanard, , 1973bWattebled et al, 1978;Samson & Blood, 1979Canard & Duelli, 1984;New, 1986aNew, , 1988aNew, , 1989New, , 2001Duelli, 1987b;Frazer, 1988;Szentkirályi, 1989Szentkirályi, , 2001aMcEwen et al, 1993aMcEwen et al, , 2001Růžička, 1994Růžička, , 1997aRůžička, , 1997bRůžička, , 1998Růžička, , 2010Mendel et al, 1997Mendel et al, , 2004Boo et al, 1998Boo et al, , 1999Boo et al, , 2003Bakthavatsalam & Singh, 1999;Nelson et al, 2001;Canard & Volkovich, 2001;Penny, 2002;Branco et al, 2006aBranco et al, , 2006bSchwartzberg et al, 2008;Koczor et al, 2010Koczor et al, , 2015.…”

Dealing with food shortage: larval dispersal behaviour and survival on non‐prey food of the hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

“…Whilst herbivorous larvae are often attracted by volatiles from their host plants (e.g. Visser, 1986;Dickens, 2002;Castrejon et al, 2006;Becher & Guerin, 2009;Soler et al, 2012), studies considering the orientation of predatory larvae are rare (Branco et al, 2006), even though predatory larvae are more likely than herbivorous larvae to encounter food shortages. This is especially true if predatory larvae are specialised on prey with an unpredictable distribution.…”

Los hemeróbidos de la Península Ibérica y Baleares (Insecta, Neuropterida, Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae)

“…Sin duda la mayor o menor longitud de sus piezas bucales está en función del tamaño y la capacidad de moción de sus presas (New, 1986). La localización de sus presas a través de sus kairomonas y feromonas ha sido frecuentemente registrada, y sobre ellas pueden llegar a ser extremadamente voraces (Withycombe, 1925;Dunn, 1954;Miermont, 1973;New, 1984New, , 1988cNew, , 1989New, , 2001Dey & Bhattacharya, 1997;Mendel et al, 1997Mendel et al, , 2004Nelson et al, 2001;Szentkirályi, 2001a;Canard & Volkovich, 2001;Branco et al, 2006aBranco et al, , 2006b, habiéndose registrado, por citar algunos ejemplos, imagos de Hemerobius pacificus devorando 25 pulgones diarios o en H. stigma, consumos de 13.000-17.000 (huevos y ninfas) de adélgidos a lo largo de sus dos meses de vida (Laidlaw, 1936), de 5-15 cóccidos diarios en Sympherobius maculipennis, o de 10 pulgones al día en Micromus posticus (Canard, 2001), con una media de 70-75 pulgones consumidos a lo largo de su vida larvaria (Withycombe, 1925;Dunn, 1954), o 315 áfidos durante sus nueve semanas de vida (Killington, 1936), y Neuenschwander et al (1975) y Neuenschwander & Hagen (1980 aportan interesantes datos sobre este particular en H. pacificus. Se calcula que la descendencia de una pareja de hemeróbidos puede consumir 4 × 10 6 áfidos en un año (New, 1988c).…”