Abstract
Parasitoids of phytophagous insects face a detectability–reliability dilemma when foraging for hosts. Plant-related cues are easily detectable, but do not guarantee the presence of the host. Host-related cues are very reliable, but much harder to detect from a distance. Little is known in particular about the way coleopteran parasitoid females use these cues when foraging for a suitable place to lay their eggs. The question is of interest because, unlike hymenopteran larvae, coleopteran parasitoid larvae are highly mobile and able to forage for hosts on their own. We assessed whether females of the parasitoid rove beetle Aleochara bipustulata (L.) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) are attracted to plant (Swede roots, Brassica napus) and host-related cues [pupae of the cabbage root fly Delia radicum (L.) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)]. In the field, A. bipustulata adult females were captured in selective pitfall traps containing pieces of roots damaged by D. radicum larvae, but not in traps containing pieces of healthy roots or D. radicum pupae. However, in the laboratory, the odour of D. radicum pupae attracted A. bipustulata females to mini-pitfalls. Video monitoring in the laboratory showed that foraging A. bipustulata females preferred a zone containing D. radicum pupae and larval tracks rather than one containing an extract of D. radicum-infested roots. Our results suggest a behavioural sequence where A. bipustulata females use plant-related cues at a distance, but then switch their preference to host-related cues at a close range. This would be the first observation of this behaviour in coleopteran parasitoids.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Alan Kergunteuil for the access to experimental fields and to Maxime Hervé and Manuel Plantegenest for their support during statistical analysis. We also thank Mélanie Leclair for her help during experiments, Tiphaine Ouisse for field work installation and Valérie Chaminade for the rearings. We are also grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on a previous version of this paper.
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The authors do not have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
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Communicated by: Sven Thatje
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Goubert, C., Josso, C., Louâpre, P. et al. Short- and long-range cues used by ground-dwelling parasitoids to find their host. Naturwissenschaften 100, 177–184 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-1008-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-1008-z