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Cattle and Amblyomma variegatum Odors Used in Host Habitat and Host Finding by the Tick Parasitoid, Ixodiphagus hookeri

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Abstract

The response of mated naive Ixodiphagus hookeri females to cattle and Amblyomma variegatum nymphal odors was tested in a Y-tube olfactometer. I. hookeri females were attracted to cattle urine, dung, and odors from tick-free feeding sites of A. variegatum nymphs on cattle, e.g., dewlaps, front heels, and hind heels. Tick-free scrotal odors did not attract the parasitoids. Furthermore, odors from off-host unfed and fed A. variegatum nymphs did not attract the parasitoids, despite an increase in the number of the nymphs to amplify any odor signal. A blend of odors from feeding on-host nymphs and cattle scrota attracted the parasitoids. In T-tube bioassays, I. hookeri females were attracted to hexane washes and fecal extracts of A. variegatum nymphs.

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Author notes

  1. Fanuel A. Demas

    Present address: Department of Agriculture, Polytechnic of Namibia, P/Bag 13388, Windhoek, Namibia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya

    Fanuel A. Demas, Ahmed Hassanali & Esther N. Mwangi

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Edna C. Kunjeku & Audrey R. Mabveni

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  1. Fanuel A. Demas
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Demas, F.A., Hassanali, A., Mwangi, E.N. et al. Cattle and Amblyomma variegatum Odors Used in Host Habitat and Host Finding by the Tick Parasitoid, Ixodiphagus hookeri. J Chem Ecol 26, 1079–1093 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005497201074

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