Search results for " Platygastridae"

Native egg parasitoids recorded from the invasive Halyomorpha halys successfully exploit volatiles emitted by the plant–herbivore complex

2017

When an accidentally introduced pest establishes in the invaded area, native natural enemies may adapt to the new host. A decade after the accidental introduction of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, in Europe, two generalist native egg parasitoids, the eupelmid Anastatus bifasciatus and the encyrtid Ooencyrtus telenomicida, have been recorded from this invasive agricultural pest in the field. Both species are able to complete development to the adult stage within the new host. Trissolcus basalis (Platygastridae = Scelionidae), which is not associated with H. halys in the field, was reared from freeze-killed sentinel eggs placed on soybean plants in central Italy. We tested…

The role of contact chemoreception in the host location process of an egg parasitoid

2016

Taste allows insects to detect palatable or toxic foods, identify a mate, and select appropriate oviposition sites. The gustatory system strongly contributes to the survival and reproductive success of many species, yet it is rarely studied in insect parasitoids. In order to locate and assess a host in which they will lay their eggs, female wasps actively search for chemical cues using their sensory organs present mainly on the antennae. In this paper, we studied the role of antennal taste sensilla chaetica in the perception of contact semiochemicals in Trissolcus brochymenae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), an egg parasitoid of the brassicaceae pest Murgantia histrionica (Heteroptera: Pentat…

WORLD REVISION OF DYSCRITOBAEUS PERKINS (HYMENOPTERA SCELIONIDAE)

Host chemical footprints induce host sex discrimination ability in egg parasitoids

2013

Trissolcus egg parasitoids, when perceiving the chemical footprints left on a substrate by pentatomid host bugs, adopt a motivated searching behaviour characterized by longer searching time on patches were signals are present. Once in contact with host chemical footprints, Trissolcus wasps search longer on traces left by associated hosts rather than non-associated species, and, in the former case, they search longer on traces left by females than males. Based on these evidences, we hypothesized that only associated hosts induce the ability to discriminate host sex in wasps. To test this hypothesis we investigated the ability of Trissolcus basalis, T. brochymenae, and Trissolcus sp. to disti…

A female-produced short-range sex pheromone in the egg parasitoid Trissolcus brochymenae

2012

The potential for short-range sex pheromone communication by the egg parasitoid wasp Trissolcus brochymenae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) was investigated in closed arena bioassays. Males of this parasitoid showed more antennal drumming and more frequent mounting behaviour on 1- to 2-d-old virgin females compared with 8-d-old virgin females. Male copulation attempts were fewer with previously mated females than with virgin females. Males courted and made copulation attempts with 1- to 2-d-old female cadavers, but not with male cadavers or with female cadavers rinsed in organic solvents of different polarities. Male attraction to female cadavers was re-established by treating cadavers with a…