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Different uses of plant semiochemicals in host location strategies of the two tachinid parasitoids

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Abstract

Some members of the family Tachinidae (Insecta: Diptera) deposit numerous very small eggs, termed “microtype” eggs, on the food plants of their caterpillar hosts. Parasitization is successful only when the hosts ingest these eggs. To increase the chance of hosts encountering the eggs, microtype tachinid parasitoids have to choose a suitable plant that harbors hosts and lay their eggs near the hosts. In their host location process, semiochemicals emitted by host-infested plants offer the tachinids a reliable cue. We investigated the behavioral responses of two microtype tachinid parasitoids, Pales pavida and Zenillia dolosa, to maize plants infested with their caterpillar host, Mythimna separata, in a wind tunnel. P. pavida females showed a significantly higher rate of landing on caterpillar-infested plants than on mechanically wounded or intact plants, whereas Z. dolosa landed on both the caterpillar-infested and mechanically wounded plants at significantly higher rates than on intact plants. We also examined which part of a caterpillar-infested maize leaf induces oviposition. P. pavida deposited eggs on the margin of the leaf, whereas Z. dolosa preferentially laid eggs around a caterpillar-infested area or a mechanically wounded spot. P. pavida eggs retained their parasitization ability for more than 15 days after they were deposited, whereas the eggs of Z. dolosa could not survive more than 5 days after oviposition. Our results suggest that each tachinid parasitoid employs a different host location strategy to exploit semiochemicals coming from plant–herbivore interaction as cues in order to increase their parasitization success.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Drs. Hiroshi Shima and Takuji Tachi of Kyushu University for their useful comments on the manuscript and for providing insect materials. We also thank Aki Konishi, Yuriko Akagi, Yukie Muraki, and Chieko Yokokura of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences for technical assistance. This work was supported by a Research Fellowship (to Ryoko T. Ichiki) through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Ohwashi 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8686, Japan

    Ryoko T. Ichiki, Giang T. T. Ho & Satoshi Nakamura

  2. INRA, 400 Route des Chappes, BP 167, 06903, Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

    Eric Wajnberg

  3. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Yooichi Kainoh

  4. National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Kannondai 3-1-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Jun Tabata

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  1. Ryoko T. Ichiki
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  2. Giang T. T. Ho
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  3. Eric Wajnberg
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  4. Yooichi Kainoh
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  5. Jun Tabata
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  6. Satoshi Nakamura
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Correspondence to Ryoko T. Ichiki.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Ichiki, R.T., Ho, G.T.T., Wajnberg, E. et al. Different uses of plant semiochemicals in host location strategies of the two tachinid parasitoids. Naturwissenschaften 99, 687–694 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0950-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0950-0

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