Search results for "Egg parasitoid"
showing 10 items of 23 documents
A finely tuned strategy adopted by an egg parasitoid to exploit chemical traces from host adults.
2009
SUMMARY Scelionid egg parasitoids can obtain reliable information on the presence of host eggs by discriminating host gender on the basis of chemical footprints of their co-evolved hosts, with a strong preference for the footprint left by host females. Based on the concept of dietary specialization and infochemical use in natural enemies, it could be predicted that host gender discrimination in specialist species belonging to the genus Trissolcus is further tuned to specific cues from distinctive chemical traces left by host females as a consequence of copulation and/or oviposition. To test this hypothesis we used the system Murgantia histrionica – Trissolcus brochymenae. Our results showed…
Learning can be detrimental for a parasitic wasp
2021
Animals have evolved the capacity to learn, and the conventional view is that learning allows individuals to improve foraging decisions. The parasitoid Telenomus podisi has been shown to parasitize eggs of the exotic stink bug Halyomorpha halys at the same rate as eggs of its coevolved host, Podisus maculiventris, but the parasitoid cannot complete its development in the exotic species. We hypothesized that T. podisi learns to exploit cues from this non-coevolved species, thereby increasing unsuccessful parasitism rates. We conducted bioassays to compare the responses of naïve vs. experienced parasitoids on chemical footprints left by one of the two host species. Both naïve and experienced …
Egg parasitoids of stink bugs: Research status and potential for biological control
2012
Egg parasitoids are among the most important natural enemies associated with herbivorous stink bugs, and they show remarkable potential as biological control agents. On the other side, some egg parasitoid species also attack predaceous bugs, thus affecting the efficacy of these important entomophagous insects. Most studied stink bug egg parasitoids belong to Platygastridae (=Scelionidae) and Encyrtidae, the main research topics concerning behavior, chemical ecology, behavioural ecology and field efficacy. Some species have been used for biological control programs. However, some constraints may prevent egg parasitoids from becoming effective agents in inundative biocontrol projects, the mos…
Plant responses induced by Halyomorpha halys (Het.: Pentatomidae)
2016
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Halyomorpha halys (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), is a very polyphagous pest of fruit crops, horticultural crops and ornamentals. Native from eastern Asia, this invasive species was recorded for the first time in Modena in 2012 and is now spreading in Northern and Central Italy. With its establishment in the invaded areas, new interactions with native tri-trophic systems (plants - stink bugs - parasitoids) are expected. A plant attacked by an ovipositing stink bug may respond by the emission of induced plant synomones, which are exploited by egg parasitoids for host location (indirect defences). This mechanism had been studied for coevolved tritrophic systems at …
Single sensillum responses in Trissolcus basalis females to companion plant volatiles
2016
In food resources location and selection, parasitoid females spend considerable time examining the substrate with their antennae, where chemosensory, mechanosensory and thermo-hygroreceptive sensilla exist. Olfaction and perception of plant volatiles play a basic role in recognition of nutritional resources. For Trissolcus basalis, an egg parasitoid of the green stink bug Nezara viridula, previous electroantennography and behavioural experiments tested the parasitoid’s response to extracted headspace volatiles and a synthetic blend of buckwheat volatiles indicated that T. basalis females have sensitive and selective olfactory responses some major buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, flower vola…
Scelionidae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea) recorded in Italy and their known hosts.
2020
Scelionidi (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea) segnalati per l’Italia e loro ospiti noti. Il seguente lavoro propone una revisione della checklist italiana della famiglia Scelionidae dopo quella proposta da Bin et al. (1995). Viene inoltre fornito l’elenco delle specie di ospiti di Insecta e Arachnida individuate nel lavoro di raccolta bibliografica. In totale sono riportati 38 generi di scelionidi per l’Italia con 181 specie di cui 58 riportano anche gli ospiti appartenenti agli ordini: Insecta: Mantodea, Orthoptera, Embioptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera; Arachnida: Araneae Dysderiidae, Lycosidae. Grazie all'intenso lavoro di ricerca del professor Giovanni Mineo, r…
World revision of the genus Encyrtoscelio Dodd (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)
1995
The genus Encyrtoscelio Dodd is revised. E. apterus (Szelényi), E. mirissimus Dodd, E. turneri Waterston are redescribed, and six new species are described: E. cydni Caleca, E. japonicus Caleca, E. mediterraneus Caleca, E. miroides Caleca, E. spuratus Caleca and E. undecim Caleca. A key to separate females is presented, and is based on the number of antennomeres and claval sensillar formula, mandibular spurs and teeth, palpal formula and clypeus, and some cephalic characters. Morphological adaptations of the head and mandibles are discussed in relation to host habitat and oviposition site. Information on host associations, habitat preference, seasonal and daily occurrence of some species a…
Sub-lethal effects of deltamethrin on walking behaviour and response to host kairomone of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis.
2002
The lethal doses of the pyrethroid deltamethrin were estimated for the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), and the sub-lethal effects of an LD25 on female walking behaviour were evaluated. Linear speed of treated parasitoids was reduced compared with that of untreated ones for a period of up to 24 h. The sub-lethal effects of deltamethrin on parasitoid response to patches contaminated by a contact kairomone from its host, Nezara viridula L (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), was also evaluated. Both treated and untreated parasitoids responded to host-contaminated patches by increasing residence time and decreasing linear speed. However, treated females showed …
The response of Trissolcus basalis to footprint contact kairomones from Nezara viridula females is mediated by leaf epicuticular waxes.
2009
Chemical footprints left behind by true bugs are perceived as contact kairomones by scelionid egg parasitoids. Female wasps encountering a contaminated artificial substrate display a characteristic arrestment posture, holding the body motionless and antennating the surface. In the system Nezara viridula (L.) and its egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston), previous studies have shown that the kairomone mediating such behavior is part of N. viridula's cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) and furthermore that the wasp's ability to discriminate host male and female footprints is mainly based on the presence/absence of nonadecane (nC(19)). In this study, the effect of epicuticular waxes of leaves…
Host plant cultivar of the grapevine moth Lobesia botrana affects the life history traits of an egg parasitoid.
2009
6 pages; International audience; The quality and susceptibility of insect eggs for egg parasitoids may be affected by the diet experienced by the females that produce the host eggs. We tested the hypothesis that the host plant fed upon by an herbivore during the larval stages will determine the quality of the eggs laid by the adult for an egg parasitoid. We used the tritrophic system comprising five grape cultivars, the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana and the parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens. Parasitoid performance in host eggs of different sizes and originating from five grape cultivars was determined. Overall, egg parasitism was higher on cultivars on which L. botrana laid larg…