Search results for "Foraging behavior"
showing 9 items of 9 documents
Trail-following pheromones in basal termites, with special reference to Mastotermes darwiniensis
2007
0098-0331 (Print) Journal Article; In the framework of an evolutionary study, trail pheromones have been studied in the most basal extant termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis (Mastotermitidae), and two other basal termites, the Termopsidae Porotermes adamsoni (Porotermitinae) and Stolotermes victoriensis (Stolotermitinae). Although workers of M. darwiniensis do not walk in single file while exploring a new environment under experimental conditions and are unable to follow artificial trails in 'open field' experiments, they do secrete a trail-following pheromone from their sternal glands. This unique behavior might reflect a primitive function of communication of the sternal gland. The major co…
Hyperparasitoids exploit herbivore-induced plant volatiles during host location to assess host quality and non-host identity
2019
Although consumers often rely on chemical information to optimize their foraging strategies, it is poorly understood how top carnivores above the third trophic level find resources in heterogeneous environments. Hyperparasitoids are a common group of organisms in the fourth trophic level that lay their eggs in or on the body of other parasitoid hosts. Such top carnivores use herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) to find caterpillars containing parasitoid host larvae. Hyperparasitoids forage in complex environments where hosts of different quality may be present alongside non-host parasitoid species, each of which can develop in multiple herbivore species. Because both the identity of th…
The phylogeny of termites (Dictyoptera : Isoptera) based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers : implications for the evolution of the worker and pseu…
2008
A phylogenetic hypothesis of termite relationships was inferred from DNA sequence data. Seven gene fragments (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome oxidase II and cytochrome b) were sequenced for 40 termite exemplars, representing all termite families and 14 outgroups. Termites were found to be monophyletic with Mastotermes darwiniensis (Mastotermitidae) as sister group to the remainder of the termites. In this remainder, the family Kalotermitidae was sister group to other families. The families Kalotermitidae, Hodotermitidae and Termitidae were retrieved as monophyletic whereas the Termopsidae and Rhinotermitidae appeared paraphyletic. All of these result…
The response of an egg parasitoid to substrate-borne semiochemicals is affected by previous experience
2016
AbstractAnimals can adjust their behaviour according to previous experience gained during foraging. In parasitoids, experience plays a key role in host location, a hierarchical process in which air-borne and substrate-borne semiochemicals are used to find hosts. In nature, chemical traces deposited by herbivore hosts when walking on the plant are adsorbed by leaf surfaces and perceived as substrate-borne semiochemicals by parasitoids. Chemical traces left on cabbage leaves by adults of the harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) induce an innate arrestment response in the egg parasitoid Trissolcus brochymenae characterized by an intense searching behaviour on host-contaminated areas. Here we …
Increased survival of honeybees in the laboratory after simultaneous exposure to low doses of pesticides and bacteria
2018
Recent studies of honeybees and bumblebees have examined combinatory effects of different stressors, as insect pollinators are naturally exposed to multiple stressors. At the same time the potential influences of simultaneously occurring agricultural agents on insect pollinator health remain largely unknown. Due to different farming methods, and the drift of applied agents and manure, pollinators are most probably exposed to insecticides but also bacteria from organic fertilizers at the same time. We orally exposed honeybee workers to sub-lethal doses of the insecticide thiacloprid and two strains of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, which can occur in manure from farming animals. Our re…
Virgins in the wild: mating status affects the behavior of a parasitoid foraging in the field
2008
In haplodiploid organisms, virgin females can produce offspring, albeit only sons. They may therefore face a trade-off between either: (1) searching for hosts and producing sons immediately; or (2) searching for mates and perhaps producing both sons and daughters later in life. Although this trade-off raises a theoretical interest, it has not been approached experimentally. The objective of this article is thus to document the effect of mating status on the foraging behavior of a haplodiploid parasitoid. For this, we recorded the behavior of virgin and mated female Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) after being released, in the field, on a colony of their aphid hosts. Half of…
Nectar-Inhabiting Bacteria Affect Olfactory Responses of an Insect Parasitoid by Altering Nectar Odors
2022
AbstractFloral nectar is ubiquitously colonized by a variety of microorganisms among which yeasts and bacteria are the most common. Microorganisms inhabiting floral nectar can alter several nectar traits, including nectar odor by producing microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs). Evidence showing that mVOCs can affect the foraging behavior of insect pollinators is increasing in the literature, whereas the role of mVOCs in altering the foraging behavior of third-trophic level organisms such as insect parasitoids is largely overlooked. Parasitoids are frequent visitors of flowers and are well known to feed on nectar. In this study, we isolated bacteria inhabiting floral nectar of buckwhe…
Behavioral response of the egg parasitoid Ooencyrtus telenomicida to host-related chemical cues in a tritrophic perspective
2010
The response of the generalist egg parasitoid Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) to host-related chemical cues from tomato plants, Solanum lycopersicum L., and adults of Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) was investigated in laboratory-based no-choice and paired-choice tests. In Y-tube olfactometer experiments, when female wasps were exposed to volatiles from plants in different conditions, they were attracted only to volatiles produced by N. viridula adult-infested tomato plants. When female wasps were exposed to adults of N. viridula, they were attracted to volatiles from virgin males, and, at a lower level, to volatiles from mated females in preov…
Predator-Induced Plasticity on Warning Signal and Larval Life-History Traits of the Aposematic Wood Tiger Moth, Arctia plantaginis
2021
Correction Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Volume 9 Article Number 737651 DOI 10.3389/fevo.2021.737651 Published JUL 29 2021 Predator-induced plasticity in life-history and antipredator traits during the larval period has been extensively studied in organisms with complex life-histories. However, it is unclear whether different levels of predation could induce warning signals in aposematic organisms. Here, we investigated whether predator-simulated handling affects warning coloration and life-history traits in the aposematic wood tiger moth larva, Arctia plantaginis. As juveniles, a larger orange patch on an otherwise black body signifies a more efficient warning signal against predators…