Laboratory Biology of a Uniparental Strain of Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), An Exotic Larval Parasite of the Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

Fuester, Roger W.; Taylor, Philip B.; Peng, Hao; Swan, Kenneth S.

doi:10.1093/aesa/86.3.298

Cited by 41 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They were young enough because the longevity of adult wasps that do not oviposit is over 20 days at 20°C (see also Fuester et al, 1993). We placed 10 wasps in the plastic tube for 20 min and recorded the number that flew.…”

Section: Effects Of Body Temperature On Flight Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Causes of polymorphic melanism and its thermoregulatory function in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abe¹,

Nishimura²,

Maetô³

2013

Eur. J. Entomol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We investigated the variation in body colour and its thermoregulatory function in Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid wasp of Spodoptera and other free-living lepidopteran larvae. We show that the body colour of adult wasps darkens when cocoons are kept at low temperatures. The range in the variation in colour, however, differs for different parts of the body and among uniparental (thelytokous) strains. This melanism enables these wasps to attain a body temperature in sunshine up to 2°C. Moreover, this small gain in body temperature can markedly increase the flight activity of wasps at low ambient temperatures. We conclude that the variation in body colour that resulted from rearing the cocoons at different temperatures enable the wasps to adapt to changing thermal environments. The ecological significance of the difference in the degree of melanism of the different strains is discussed.

show abstract

Section: Effects Of Body Temperature On Flight Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are both biparental (arrhenotokous) and uniparental (thelytokous) strains of this wasp (Fuester et al, 1993) and the body colour of uniparental strains varies from almost totally brownish yellow to mostly black (as shown below). Thus, this wasp provides a good model for studying thermal melanism in parasitoid wasps.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Causes of polymorphic melanism and its thermoregulatory function in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abe¹,

Nishimura²,

Maetô³

2013

Eur. J. Entomol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This wasp species was originally distributed throughout Europe, North Africa, China, Korea, and Japan. Biparental strains have been introduced from Europe and Asia into the United States on several occasions for biological control of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (Lymantriidae) (Marsh, 1979;Fuester et al, 1993). In China (Liu and Li, 2006) and Japan (Takashino et al, 1998), uniparental M. pulchricornis is an important natural enemy of Helicoverpa and Spodoptera (Noctuidae).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oviposition by a female wasp in an already parasitized host leads to superparasitism and competition between the larvae for host resources. Despite extensive research on the bionomics of M. pulchricornis (Askari et al, 1977;Fuester et al, 1993;Nguyen et al, 2005;Liu and Li, 2006;Suzuki and Tanaka, 2006), little is known of the nature of superparasitism. Although we often observe multiple ovipositions in the laboratory (our unpublished data), no studies have investigated intraspecific larval competition and superparasitism-avoidance behavior in M. pulchricornis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific larval competition in Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a solitary endoparasitoid of lepidopteran larvae

Châu

Maetô

2008

Appl. Entomol. Zool.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intraspecific competition of larvae in superparasitism was examined in Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a solitary endoparasitoid of lepidopteran larvae. The outcome of competition principally depended on the time interval between two ovipositions by conspecific females. Lethal symmetrical competition by physical attacks with sharp mandibles occurred between first-instar larvae just after or before hatching when two eggs were laid almost simultaneously into the same host within 30 min. During asymmetrical competition between first-instar larvae oviposited at an interval of 24 h, older larvae tended to win against younger ones. However, during competition between first-and second-instar larvae oviposited at an interval of 72 h, the first instar always killed amandibulate second instars by physical attacks using the mandibles. In contrast, obvious developmental delays, but not death, of young first-instar larvae were detected as a result of asymmetrical competition at a 96-h interval. We did not observe egg mortality during either symmetrical or asymmetrical competition.

show abstract

“…Its original distribution spanned the Palearctic ecozone (Huddleston, 1980), but biparental strains were introduced from Europe into the United States for biological control of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (Fuester et al, 1993). Uniparental strains are also important natural enemies of pest lepidopterans in East Asia, including Helicoverpa and Spodoptera (Takashino et al, 1998;Liu and Li, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host movement initiates oviposition behavior of Meteorus pulchricornis, a braconid parasitoid of free-living lepidopteran larvae

Yamamoto

Châu

Maetô

2009

Appl. Entomol. Zool.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Meteorus pulchricornis is a solitary endoparasitoid of various lepidopteran larvae that attacks free-living hosts exposed on plant foliage. We tested the necessity of host movement for oviposition behavior in M. pulchricornis using dummy hosts as well as natural host larvae (Spodoptera litura). We quantified the occurrence of three steps in oviposition behavior, i.e., host orientation, oviposition stance, and oviposition attack, to natural hosts under light and dark conditions. We also examined the incidence of these behaviors on natural hosts, moving dummy hosts, and motionless dummy hosts under light conditions. Few successful attacks occurred on natural hosts under dark conditions and no oviposition attempts were made against motionless dummy hosts. These results indicate that visual cues from moving host larvae are necessary for successful oviposition. Furthermore, host movement seems important for female wasps to orient the ovipositor toward the host body, since the location of the oviposition attack on natural hosts changed markedly with the mode of host movement.

show abstract

Laboratory Biology of a Uniparental Strain of Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), An Exotic Larval Parasite of the Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Causes of polymorphic melanism and its thermoregulatory function in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Causes of polymorphic melanism and its thermoregulatory function in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Intraspecific larval competition in Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a solitary endoparasitoid of lepidopteran larvae

Host movement initiates oviposition behavior of Meteorus pulchricornis, a braconid parasitoid of free-living lepidopteran larvae

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About