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Caterpillar hairs as an anti-parasitoid defence

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Abstract

Caterpillar hairs are thought to act as a physical barrier against natural enemies, including parasitoids. However, very few studies have experimentally demonstrated how hairs protect caterpillars from parasitoid oviposition. To clarify the importance of caterpillar hairs as an anti-parasitoid defence, we observed the generalist endoparasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attacking both smooth and hairy caterpillars under laboratory conditions. A female Meteorus pulchricornis uses its ovipositor to inject venom and lay a single egg inside host larvae. We placed a smooth Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) caterpillar or a hairy Lymantria dispar japonica (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) caterpillar in front of parasitoid females. We observed that 100 % and 84 % of the parasitoids could successfully stab their ovipositors into the smooth larvae of S. litura and first instars of the hairy caterpillar L. dispar japonica, respectively. However, only 24 % of parasitoids could successfully stab their ovipositors into second-instar L. dispar japonica. A higher rate of successful stabs (94 %) by parasitoids was obtained by cutting the hairs of second instar L. dispar japonica much shorter than the parasitoid ovipositor. The results demonstrate that the long, thick hairs of second and later instars of L. dispar japonica function as a physical barrier against parasitoid oviposition.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K Maeto for providing parasitoids and for helpful advice. We also thank M Osawa for providing gypsy moth eggs. Finally, we thank four anonymous referees for their valuable comments on our manuscript. This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 25292034). The experiments also complied with the current laws of Japan.

Author contributions

SS conceived and designed experiments. AK reared both caterpillars and parasitoids in the laboratory. AK and SS performed laboratory experiments. SS analysed the data and wrote the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare there are no competing financial interests.

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Author notes

  1. Azusa Kageyama

    Present address: Tsuyama City Hall, Tsuyama, Okayama, 708-8501, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Azusa Kageyama & Shinji Sugiura

  2. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan

    Shinji Sugiura

Authors
  1. Azusa Kageyama
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  2. Shinji Sugiura
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Correspondence to Shinji Sugiura.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Kageyama, A., Sugiura, S. Caterpillar hairs as an anti-parasitoid defence. Sci Nat 103, 86 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1411-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1411-y

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