Search results for "wasps"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Quantitative parameters and ecological implications of a specialized tritrophic interaction involving a seed-feeding tortricid, Pseudargyrotoza conwa…
2014
Producción Científica
Host sex discrimination by an egg parasitoid on Brassica leaves.
2011
Egg parasitoids are able to find their hosts by exploiting their chemical footprints as host location cues. In nature, the apolar epicuticular wax layer of plants that consists of several classes of hydrocarbons serves as the substrate that retains these contact kairomones. However, experiments on chemical footprints generally have used filter paper as substrate to study insect behavior. Here, we explored the ability of Trissolcus basalis (Scelionidae) females to discriminate between footprint cues left by male and female Nezara viridula (Pentatomidae) on leaves of their host plant Brassica oleracea (broccoli). Furthermore, we analyzed the chemical composition of the outermost wax layer of …
Emergence and dispersal relative to natal nest in the digger wasp Stizus continuus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae).
2009
The position of the emerging point has rarely been investigated as a factor possibly affecting the future nest settlement behaviour in Hymenoptera, in particular within nest aggregations. We studied the emergence and dispersion patterns of the digger wasp Stizus continuus. Individuals emerged daily in clumped patterns, possibly revealing a certain synchrony of emergence from the same nests, and protandry appeared both at seasonal and daily level. Differences between the number of females that nested relatively close or far from their emergence holes (EH) were either significant or not, depending on the year, and observed dispersal distances from the natal nests did not differ from those obt…
The Egg Parasitoid Trissolcus basalis uses n-nonadecane, a Cuticular Hydrocarbon from its Stink Bug Host Nezara viridula, to Discriminate Between Fem…
2007
Contact kairomones from adult southern green stink bugs, Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) that elicit foraging behavior of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) were investigated in laboratory experiments. Chemical residues from tarsi and scutella of N. viridula induced foraging by gravid female T. basalis. Residues from body parts of female N. viridula elicited stronger responses than those from the corresponding body parts of males. Deproteinized tarsi still elicited searching responses from wasps, indicating that the kairomone was not proteinaceous. Hexane extracts of host cuticular lipids induced searching responses from T. basalis, with a strong preference f…
Female-released sex pheromones mediating courtship behavior in Lysiphlebus testaceipes males.
2013
Ethological aspects and chemical communication at close-range between the sexes of Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) have been investigated through behavioral bioassays and chemical analysis. The attractiveness toward males of whole-body extracts of females and males in hexane and acetone was evaluated, adopting male fanning behavior as a key behavioral component. Also, the activity of polar and nonpolar fraction of female-body extract in hexane obtained using solid-phase extraction technique was investigated. In order to identify cuticular compounds, male and female whole-body extracts with hexane and acetone were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Th…
Wasp venom injected into the prey's brain modulates thoracic identified monoaminergic neurons.
2005
The wasp Ampulex compressa injects a cocktail of neurotoxins into the brain of its cockroach prey to induce an enduring change in the execution of locomotory behaviors. Our hypothesis is that the venom injected into the brain indirectly alters the activity of monoaminergic neurons, thus changing the levels of monoamines that tune the central synapses of locomotory circuits. The purpose of the present investigation was to establish whether the venom alters the descending control, from the brain, of octopaminergic neurons in the thorax. This question was approached by recording the activity of specific identified octopaminergic neurons after removing the input from the brain or after a wasp s…
Description of Dryocosmus destefanii new species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) from Quercus suber L. in Italy
2018
A new species, Dryocosmus destefanii Cerasa & Melika n. sp. associated with a Cerris section oak, Quercus suber L., is described from Italy. Description, diagnosis, host associations and biology for the new species and an illustrated identification key to the Western Palaearctic Dryocosmus species are given. The description is supported by morphological and molecular data.
Supplementary material 1 from: Komonen A, Torniainen J (2022) All-day activity of Dolichovespula saxonica (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) colonies in Central…
2022
Tables S1, S2, Figures S1–S4
Attraction of egg-killing parasitoids toward induced plant volatiles in a multi-herbivore context
2015
In response to insect herbivory, plants emit volatile organic compounds which may act as indirect plant defenses by attracting natural enemies of the attacking herbivore. In nature, plants are often attacked by multiple herbivores, but the majority of studies which have investigated indirect plant defenses to date have focused on the recruitment of different parasitoid species in a single-herbivore context. Here, we report our investigation on the attraction of egg parasitoids of lepidopteran hosts (Trichogramma brassicae and T. evanescens) toward plant volatiles induced by different insect herbivores in olfactometer bioassays. We used a system consisting of a native crucifer, Brassica nigr…
Wild olive seed weevil in South Africa, Anchonocranus oleae Marshall (Coleoptera Curculionidae), a rediscovery after a century
2019
The wild olive seed weevil, Anchonocranus oleae Marshall, 1912 was not found after its description and the study of its biology by Silvestri in 1915. Recently, A. oleae larvae were found alive inside the kernels of wild olives (O. europaea subsp. cuspidata) collected from trees between 2009 and 2012 in the Western Cape, South Africa. No weevil larvae were found in cultivated olives collected during the same period. Only two adult weevils emerged from olives collected on the tree and on the ground. Over the sampling period 20 adults were collected directly on wild olive trees at different sites in the Western Cape and one in the Eastern Cape. All adults were shown to be conspecific with the …