Foraging behaviour of an egg parasitoid exploiting plant volatiles induced by pentatomids: the role of adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces

PeerJ

article

Francesca Frati¹  Antonino Cusumano²  Eric Conti¹  Stefano Colazza³  Ezio Peri³  Salvatore Guarino³  Letizia Martorana³  Roberto Romani¹  Gianandrea Salerno¹ 

[1] Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia;Department of Entomology, Wageningen Agricultural University;Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo

关键词: Chemical ecology;    Leaf surface;    Oviposition;    Walking activity;    Trissolcus basalis;    Nezara viridula;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.3326

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Several phases of herbivorous insect attack including feeding and oviposition are known to induce plant defenses. Plants emit volatiles induced by herbivores to recruit insect parasitoids as an indirect defense strategy. So far, volatiles induced by herbivore walking and their putative role in the foraging behavior of egg parasitoids have not been investigated. In this paper we studied the response of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis toward volatiles emitted by Vicia faba plants as consequence of the walking activity of the host Nezara viridula. Olfactometer bioassays were carried out to evaluate wasp responses to plants in which the abaxial or the adaxial surfaces were subjected to walking or/and oviposition. Results showed that host female walking on the abaxial but not on the adaxial surface caused a repellence effect in T. basalis 24 h after plant treatment. The emission of active volatiles also occurred when the leaf was turned upside-down, indicating a specificity of stress localization. This specificity was supported by the results, which showed that oviposition combined with feeding elicit the induction of plant volatiles, attracting the parasitoid, when the attack occurred on the abaxial surface. Analyses of plant volatile blends showed significant differences between the treatments.

【 授权许可】

CC BY