Search results for " soft scale insects"

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…