Search results for "PARASITOID"
showing 10 items of 185 documents
Frugivorous birds dispersing braconid parasitoids via endozoochory
2008
Adult braconid wasps (Bracon sp.) emerged from the droppings of frugivorous birds (Turdus blackbirds and thrushes) collected in a rural environment in southern Europe. It was thus demonstrated for the first time that an insect parasitoid of a fruit-infesting insect (lepidopteran tortricid) can survive bird ingestion and gut passage inside a seed (privet Ligustrum vulgare), constituting a case of an evolutionary tetrad.
Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea inhabiting galls of Cynipidae in Jordan
2008
Twenty-three species of Chalcidoidea (5 Eurytomidae, 4 Torymidae, 2 Ormyridae, 5 Pteromalidae and 7 Eulophidae) are recorded as regular members of the parasitoid fauna inhabiting galls of Cynipidae in Jordan. The occurrence of three additional species, probably only facultatively associated with cynipid galls, is noted. Twenty-two out of the total 26 species were previously unrecorded in the country, while 13 of them are also new for the entire Middle East. Eighteen new host records were detected, together with 24 new plant-parasitoid associations. The biology of each species is briefly commented upon, as well as the presence of a host-related colour variation in some species.
Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids exploring host patches
2010
Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids, Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), exploring egg masses of the Southern Green Stink Bug (SGSB) Nezara viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), were investigated in laboratory conditions by single, simultaneous and sequential host attack experiments. Mortality of N. viridula eggs was higher in simultaneous and sequential releases compared to single species releases. In simultaneous host exploitations, T. basalis females displayed an aggressive behavior against O. telenomicida females. The outcome of multiparasitism showed that interspecific larval competition was dominated by O…
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…
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…
Fenología de los bracónidos (hymenoptera, ichneumonoidea, braconidae) del pirineo andorrano
2006
Phenology of the Braconidae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea) at Andorra has been conducted/studied using a Malaise trap after a one-year cycle during 1993. A total of 1.892 specimens, representing 23 subfamilies and 79 genera were sampled. About 93.7% of the captures were koinobiont braconids, whereas 6.3% belonged to idiobiont braconids. The annual phenology has been characterized through the correlation between the evolution of the collected braconids and the weather (meteorological conditions). The maximum of the populations were registered between the two rain periods. In fact, the family Braconidae shows an abundance peak from middle of May to end of August, due to the xerothermic conditi…
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…
Impacts of climate change on the performance of an insect pest and associated consequences for tritrophic interactions
2019
Global warming poses a major challenge to living organisms, particularly for ectothermic animals like insects, whose physiology and behaviour are closely related with direct thermal surroundings. This thesis aims at experimentally investigating the impacts of climate change on the overall performance of a major grapevine pest, the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana), and the associated consequences for interactions involving this phytophagous insect and adjacent trophic levels, more specifically natural enemies (parasitoids). The experiments conducted focus on three facets of climate change: an increase in mean temperature, an alteration of daily thermal range, and the occurrence of h…
Optimum and Maximum Host Sizes at Parasitism for the Endoparasitoid <I>Hyposoter didymator</I> (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) Differ Greatl…
2007
Host size is considered a reliable indicator of host quality and an important determinant of parasitoid fitness. Koinobiont parasitoids attack hosts that continue feeding and growing during parasitism. In contrast with hemolymph-feeding koinobionts, tissue-feeding koinobionts face not only a minimum host size for successful development but also a maximum host size, because consumption of the entire host is often necessary for successful egression. Here we study interactions between a generalist tissue-feeding larval endoparasitoid, Hyposoter didymator Thunberg (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and two of its natural hosts, Spodoptera exigua Hübner and Chrysodeixis chalcites Esper (Lepidoptera: N…
External and internal elimination of supernumerary larvae in the whitefly parasitoid Eretmocerus mundus Mercet (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
2008
Abstract The solitary parasitoid Eretmocerus mundus Mercet (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) is one of the key biological control agents of the whitefly Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, also known as B. tabaci (Gennadius) B-biotype (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). We present new information on its biology, and particularly about larval elimination during the first instar in cases of superparasitism. For the first time, physical elimination of supernumerary larvae was observed, both outside and inside the host. These findings are documented with confocal microscopy images and video recordings. We observed more than 350 B. argentifolii nymphs, parasitized with one, two or more than two larvae. Physi…