0000000000272851
AUTHOR
Volkoff A. -N.
Volatiles from Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera, Crambidae) host plants influence olfactory responses of the parasitoid Therophilus javanus (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae)
Plants damaged by herbivores are known to release odors attracting parasitoids. However, there is currently no information how leguminous plants damaged by the pod borer Maruca vitrata attract the exotic larval parasitoid Therophilus javanus, which was imported into Benin from the putative area of origin of the pod borer in tropical Asia for assessing its potential as a biological control agent. In this study, we used Y-tube olfactometer bioassays to investigate T. javanus response towards odors emitted by four M. vitrata-damaged host plants: cowpea Vigna unguiculata, the most important cultivated host, and the naturally occurring legumes Lonchocarpus sericeus, Sesbania rostrata and Tephros…
Western European Populations of the Ichneumonid Wasp Hyposoter didymator Belong to a Single Taxon
Hyposoter didymator (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) is a generalist solitary endoparasitoid of noctuid larvae. In the present work, we tested whether populations of H. didymator were divided in several genetically distinct taxa as described for many other generalist parasitoid species, and whether differences in H. didymator parasitism rates were explained by the insect host species and/or by the plant on which these hosts were feeding on. The genetic analysis of natural populations collected in different regions in France and Spain on seven different insect hosts and seven different host plants (775 individuals) showed that H. didymator populations belong to a unique single taxon. However, H.…