Search results for " Coccus hesperidum"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Emergence, dispersal, and mate finding via a substrate-borne sex pheromone in the parasitoidMetaphycus luteolus
2013
Metaphycus luteolus Timberlake (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a facultatively gregarious parasitoid of soft scale insects. We conducted behavioral experiments to better understand the mating structure of this species. Emergence of male and female offspring is synchronized, beginning at the onset of photoperiod. Both sexes are able to disperse, although dispersal of males from natal patches appears to take longer than dispersal of females. We demonstrated the presence of a female-produced contact pheromone using open arena bioassays and motion tracking software, testing residues deposited by walking females, and extracts of females. Males responded to the females' chemical footprints' and to a…
Responses of Metaphycus sp. nr. flavus to semiochemicals released from a scale host, Coccus hesperidum
2004
Metaphycus sp. nr. flavus (Encyrtidae: Hymenoptera) is a parasitoid species collected from the Mediterranean region which lays its eggs in the immature stages of several economically important soft scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccidae), including brown soft scale, Coccus hesperidum L. (= host insect). Preliminary tests suggested that the parasitoid is most successful in producing offspring when it oviposits in the younger stages of brown soft scale. In Y-olfactometer bioassays measuring wasp choices and residence times, naïve parasitoids were significantly more attracted to yucca leaves infested with 26, 27, or 28 d-old scale than to uninfested leaves, whereas leaves with older (29-30 d-old) …