Chemical and Behavioral Ecology in Insect Parasitoids: How to Behave Optimally in a Complex Odorous Environment

Hilker, Monika; McNeil, Jeremy N.

doi:10.1002/9780470696200.ch5

Cited by 68 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 142 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the absence of plant odors, T. heterocerus preferred late first instar larvae against a control, but in the presence of uninfested OSR with an equal ratio of buds and flowers, T. heterocerus preferred the odor of the smallest stage (early first instar) over plant odor alone. Background odors are always present in nature and may affect the use of volatiles by parasitoids in various ways (Hilker and McNeil, 2008;Schröder and Hilker, 2008). It is difficult to explain why uninfested plant odor decreases the attractivity of late first instar larvae while it enhances the attractivity of early first instar larvae, but it is possible that flower volatiles, indicating floral nectar and pollen, may play some confounding role here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche separation of pollen beetle parasitoids

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Species with similar resource requirements are commonly assumed to competitively exclude each other, unless they differentiate their ecological niches. Hence, parasitoid wasps that use the same host species need to find some way to avoid competition. The aim of this study was to identify the role of volatile cues from oilseed rape plants and the larval host in niche separation between three coexisting parasitoid species. We examined how Phradis interstitialis, Phradis morionellus and Tersilochus heterocerus, sympatric parasitoids of Brassicogethes aeneus, differ in their abundances, distribution on buds and flowers, and oviposition behavior in the field. Furthermore, we tested their preferences for odors from uninfested and infested oilseed rape plants in the bud and flowering stage, and their preferences for odors from three developmental stages of pollen beetle larvae in a two-choice olfactometer bioassay. P. interstitialis was active in the field early in the season, preferred odors of infested buds vs. uninfested, and oviposited into buds which contained only pollen beetle eggs, while P. morionellus was active late in the season, preferred odors of infested buds as well as odors of infested flowers over uninfested, and oviposited into buds which contained only larvae. T. heterocerus was active throughout the season, and preferred odors of infested flowers over uninfested. Neither Phradis species were attracted to larval odors, whereas T. heterocerus was attracted to odors from first-instar pollen beetle larvae both in the absence of plant odors, and when presented simultaneously with uninfested plant odor. This suggests that the two Phradis species are separated on a temporal scale and that they parasitize different host stages, while the larval parasitoids P. morionellus and T. heterocerus are separated by choice of microhabitat. The former oviposits into larvae in buds, and the latter in flowers.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche separation of pollen beetle parasitoids

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As with visual perception, in which a color becomes attractive or repellent at the background of another color, background odor may also facilitate the detection of the odor of a resource, as has been suggested by Hilker and McNeil (2007). The background odor might provide a suitable reference when, for example, foraging for a host-infested plant on the background of other non infested plants (Mumm and Hilker 2005).…”

Section: Ecological Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance of Background Odor in Resource Location by Insects: A Behavioral Approach

Schröder¹,

Hilker²

2008

BioScience

Self Cite

216

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The host selection process involves a sequence of phases mediated by physical and chemical stimuli from the host, the substrate, and/or associated organisms, eventually leading to successful parasitism [6][7][8][9]. Because parasitoid foraging time is limited and the potential cues available are numerous, the parasitoid faces the need to optimize exploitation of available cues and discriminate those most reliable in indicating the presence of a suitable host [8,10]. However, the location and recognition of a suitable host is a complex process, especially for egg parasitoids, because of major constraints due to the small sizes of both the host and the parasitoid itself.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Ecology of Egg Parasitoids Associated with True Bugs

Conti

Colazza

2012

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parasitoids representing some 15 families of Hymenoptera develop in insect eggs; three of these families, Platygastridae (= Scelionidae), Mymaridae, and Encyrtidae, are associated with Heteroptera. Several species of heteropteran egg parasitoids are or may be important for biological pest control. Successful parasitism of insect herbivores by insect parasitoids arises through several phases of host searching, which lead female wasps to the vicinity of, or in contact with, their hosts. During the host location process, females encounter and explore a variety of stimuli, among which chemical cues (i.e., semiochemicals or infochemicals) play a pivotal role. Female parasitoids are under selection pressure to efficiently invest their limited time on the location and exploitation of host-derived stimuli. In general, the levels of reliability and detectability of a particular stimulus are inversely correlated. Female parasitic wasps adopt differing strategies to solve this dilemma. In this paper we focus on the various host selection strategies employed by heteropteran egg parasitoids and possible means whereby the chemically mediated behavior of these wasps may be exploited to enhance biological pest control.

show abstract

Chemical and Behavioral Ecology in Insect Parasitoids: How to Behave Optimally in a Complex Odorous Environment

Cited by 68 publications

References 142 publications

Niche separation of pollen beetle parasitoids

Niche separation of pollen beetle parasitoids

The Relevance of Background Odor in Resource Location by Insects: A Behavioral Approach

Chemical Ecology of Egg Parasitoids Associated with True Bugs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About