Parasitoid Foraging and Learning

Vet, L.E.M.; Lewis, W. J.; Cardé, Ring T.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-1765-8_3

Cited by 288 publications

(275 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…The two parasitoids were strongly attracted to induced plants, but in none of the tests did they distinguish between the odour of the transgenic and the isogenic line, even if they had an oviposition experience on one of the lines. Such experiences are known to lead to associative learning, which increases the responsiveness of parasitoids to the odours they perceive during oviposition (Turlings et al, 1993;Vet et al, 1995). In previous studies Tamo`, 2005) we found that the wasps are capable of distinguishing between different odours in the same olfactometer and they make a clear choice, which can be reinforced by experience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Experiencing an odour during an oviposition is known to increase the responsiveness of parasitoids to the experienced odour as a result of associative learning (Turlings et al, 1993;Vet et al, 1995). The olfactometer was used in a previous study to test the learning ability of the two parasitoid species and it was found that C. marginiventris exhibits a preference for an experienced odour, whereas M. rufiventris shows an overall increase in responsiveness, but no change in preference (Tamo`, 2005).…”

Section: Pre-conditioning Of the Waspsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the Induced-Odour Emission of a Bt Maize and its Attractiveness to Parasitic Wasps

et al. 2005

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The current discussion on the safety of transgenic crops includes their effects on beneficial insects, such as parasitoids and predators of pest insects. One important plant trait to consider in this context is the emission of volatiles in response to herbivory. Natural enemies use the odours that result from these emissions as cues to locate their herbivorous prey and any significant change in these plant-provided signals may disrupt their search efficiency. There is a need for practical and reliable methods to evaluate transgenic crops for this and other important plant traits. Moreover, it is imperative that such evaluations are done in the context of variability for these traits among conventional genotypes of a crop. For maize and the induction of volatile emissions by caterpillar feeding this variability is known and realistic comparisons can therefore be made. Here we used a six-arm olfactometer that permits the simultaneous collection of volatiles emitted by multiple plants and testing of their attractiveness to insects. With this apparatus we measured the induced odour emissions of Bt maize (Bt11, N4640Bt) and its near-isogenic line (N4640) and the attractiveness of these odours to Cotesia marginiventris and Microplitis rufiventris, two important larval parasitoids of common lepidopteran pests. Both parasitoid species were strongly attracted to induced maize odour and neither wasp distinguished between the odours of the transgenic and the isogenic line. Also wasps that had previously experienced one of the odours during a successful oviposition divided their choices equally between the two odours. However, chemical analyses of collected odours revealed significant quantitative differences. The same 11 compounds dominated the blends of both genotypes, but the isogenic line released a larger amount of most of these. These differences may be due to altered resource allocation in the transgenic line, but it had no measurable effect on the wasps' behaviour. All compounds identified here had been previously reported for maize and the differential quantities in which they were released fall well within the range of variability observed for other maize genotypes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Pre-conditioning Of the Waspsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Induced-Odour Emission of a Bt Maize and its Attractiveness to Parasitic Wasps

et al. 2005

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“…Compared to larval parasitoids, little is known on the learning capabilities of host-plant-derived cues in egg parasitoids. Egg parasitoids are less expected to use plant-derived cues or to learn; instead, they are likely to use host-derived cues (i.e., host adult pheromones) that are highly predictable within and between generations during foraging (Vet et al 1995). Recent studies have shown that egg parasitoids use not only short-distance (host-associated) cues but also may use long-distance volatiles, such as those associated with the host plant (Meiners and Hilker 1997;Hilker et al 2002;Hilker and Meiners 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EAG-Active Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles Modify Behavioral Responses and Host Attack by An Egg Parasitoid

et al. 2008

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Volatiles emitted by plants in response to feeding by Lygus species were tested in neurophysiological, behavioral, and parasitism trials with Anaphes iole, an egg parasitoid of Lygus. Electroantennogram analyses indicated that A. iole antennae responded to most herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) tested and that females were usually more responsive than males. Antennal responses to (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate and methyl salicylate were among the strongest. Behavioral assays in a four-arm olfactometer demonstrated that response of female wasps to (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate varied greatly depending on preconditioning regime. Preconditioning wasps to complex host-plant odors led to stronger preference than did a single preconditioning stimulus, i.e., (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate. In a horizontal wind tunnel, female wasps were attracted by methyl salicylate and α-farnesene. Parasitism of Lygus lineolaris eggs by A. iole in a cotton field was greater when the eggs were associated with (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate or α-farnesene than with controls. Overall, the results of this study show that A. iole can perceive a variety of plant volatiles released after its host damages plants, that the degree of associative learning in A. iole can be manipulated based on preconditioning regime, and that single synthetic HIPVs are attractive to A. iole and can be used to increase attack rates on host eggs. Therefore, it appears that HIPVs have potential for use in suppression of Lygus population densities.

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“…Importance of Learning One way for parasitoids to deal with highly complex and variable blends is their ability to learn by association (Turlings et al, 1993;Vet et al, 1995). It is assumed that such learning processes are specifically important for generalist wasps such as C. marginiventris and M. rufiventris, parasitizing various host, feeding on different plant species (Vet and Dicke, 1992;Steidle and van Loon, 2003).…”

Section: Attractiveness Of Shikimic Acid Derived Vocsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Indole and Other Shikimic Acid Derived Maize Volatiles in the Attraction of Two Parasitic Wasps

et al. 2006

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After herbivore attack, plants release a plethora of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which results in odor blends that are attractive to predators and parasitoids of these herbivores. VOCs in the odor blends emitted by maize plants (Zea mays) infested by lepidopteran larvae are well characterized. They are derived from at least three different biochemical pathways, but the relative importance of each pathway for the production of VOCs that attract parasitic wasps is unknown. Here, we studied the importance of shikimic acid derived VOCs for the attraction of females of the parasitoids Cotesia marginiventris and Microplitis rufiventris. By incubating caterpillar-infested maize plants in glyphosate, an inhibitor of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phospate (EPSP) synthase, we obtained induced odor blends with only minute amounts of shikimic acid derived VOCs. In olfactometer bioassays, the inhibited plants were as attractive to naive C. marginiventris females as control plants that released normal amounts of shikimic acid derived VOCs, whereas naive M. rufiventris females preferred inhibited plants to control plants. By adding back synthetic indole, the quantitatively most important shikimic acid derived VOC in induced maize odors, to inhibited plants, we showed that indole had no effect on the attraction of C. marginiventris and that M. rufiventris preferred blends without synthetic indole. Exposing C. marginiventris females either to odor blends of inhibited or control plants during oviposition experiences shifted their preference in subsequent olfactometer tests in favor of the experienced odor. Further learning experiments with synthetic indole showed that C. marginiventris can learn to respond to this compound, but that this does not affect its choices between natural induced blends with or without indole. We hypothesize that for naïve wasps the attractiveness of an herbivore-induced odor blend is reduced due to masking by nonattractive compounds, and that during oviposition experiences in the presence of complex odor blends, parasitoids strongly associate some compounds, whereas others are largely ignored.

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Parasitoid Foraging and Learning

Cited by 288 publications

References 99 publications

Evaluating the Induced-Odour Emission of a Bt Maize and its Attractiveness to Parasitic Wasps

Evaluating the Induced-Odour Emission of a Bt Maize and its Attractiveness to Parasitic Wasps

EAG-Active Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles Modify Behavioral Responses and Host Attack by An Egg Parasitoid

The Role of Indole and Other Shikimic Acid Derived Maize Volatiles in the Attraction of Two Parasitic Wasps

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