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Volatile infochemicals used in host and host habitat location byCotesia flavipes Cameron andCotesia sesamiae (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), larval parasitoids of stemborers on graminae

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Abstract

FemaleCotesia flavipes Cameron andCotesia sesamiae (Cameron) were attracted to odors in a Y-tube olfactometer from uninfested maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)], and napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach). In dual choice tests,Cotesia flavipes showed a preference for maize over sorghum, while maize and napier grass were equally attractive. In contrast,Cotesia sesamiae preferred volatiles from sorghum and napier grass over those from maize. The two parasitoids were significantly more attracted to maize infested with the stemborers,Chilo partellus (Swinhoe),Chilo orichalcociliellus Strand,Sesamia calamistis Hampson, andBusseola fusca (Fuller), than uninfested maize. In dual choice tests,Cotesia flavipes andCotesia sesamiae were unable to discriminate between odors from plants infested by the different species of stemborers.

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  1. William A. Overholt

    Present address: ICIPE, P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Adele J. Ngi-Song, Peter G. N. Njagi & Wilbert Lwande

  2. Department of Entomology, Agricultural University, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    William A. Overholt & Marcel Dicke

  3. Crop Science Department, University of Ghana, Legon, P.O. Box 44, Accra, Ghana

    Jonathan N. Ayertey

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Ngi-Song, A.J., Overholt, W.A., Njagi, P.G.N. et al. Volatile infochemicals used in host and host habitat location byCotesia flavipes Cameron andCotesia sesamiae (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), larval parasitoids of stemborers on graminae. J Chem Ecol 22, 307–323 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02055101

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