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Olfactory attractiveness of flowering plants to the parasitoid Microplitis mediator: potential implications for biological control

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Abstract

In agricultural landscapes, the lack of floral nectar can be a major difficulty for nectar feeding parasitoids. This problem can be reduced by the addition of suitable wildflowers. To date, flowers have mainly been studied in terms of effects on parasitoid fitness, not taking into account the essential role of flower attractiveness for foraging parasitoids. This study experimentally tested the olfactory attractiveness of five wildflowers (bishop’s weed, cornflower, buckwheat, candytuft, and oregano) to the parasitoid Microplitis mediator (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). We conducted choice experiments in a Y-tube olfactometer to test the attractiveness of flowers against air, and relative attractiveness in paired choice tests. Our results showed that all the flowers were highly attractive and that in paired choice tests cornflower and candytuft were equally attractive and more attractive than buckwheat. These results indicate that M. mediator has evolved innate preferences that could be effectively exploited in biological control.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jürgen Hottinger and Victor Mislin (University of Basel) for designing and constructing the olfactometer used in this study, Leon Westerd (University of Wageningen) for providing us the pupae of M. mediator and helping us to start the rearing, Joël Meunier (Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz) and Andy Schötzau for helping us with the statistical analysis, and Vincent Klärer for his help with the artwork. We are also grateful to Henryk Luka (FiBL, Switzerland) for general support and discussions and to the Werner Steiger Foundation for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse 21, Postfach 219, 5070, Frick, Switzerland

    Elodie Belz & Oliver Balmer

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology and Evolution, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051, Basel, Switzerland

    Elodie Belz & Mathias Kölliker

  3. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4051, Basel, Switzerland

    Oliver Balmer

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  1. Elodie Belz
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Correspondence to Elodie Belz.

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Belz, E., Kölliker, M. & Balmer, O. Olfactory attractiveness of flowering plants to the parasitoid Microplitis mediator: potential implications for biological control. BioControl 58, 163–173 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-012-9472-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-012-9472-0

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