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Cuticular Hydrocarbon Cues Are Used for Host Acceptance by Pseudacteon spp. Phorid Flies that Attack Azteca sericeasur Ants

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Abstract

Parasitoids often use complex cues to identify suitable hosts in their environment. Phorid fly parasitoids that develop on one or a few host species often use multiple cues, ranging from general to highly specific, to home in on an appropriate host. Here, we describe the hierarchy of cues that Pseudacteon phorid flies use to identify Azteca ant hosts. We show, through behavioral observations in the field, that phorid flies are attracted to two cryptic Azteca species, but only attack Azteca sericeasur (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). To test whether the phorid flies use cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to distinguish between the two Azteca taxa, we first documented and compared cuticular hydrocarbons of the two Azteca taxa using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Then, using cuticular hydrocarbon-transfer experiments with live ants, we characterized the cuticular hydrocarbons of A. sericeasur as a short-range, host location cue used by P. lasciniosus (Diptera: Phoridae) to locate the ants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Finca Irlanda for allowing us to conduct research on the farm and SEMARNAT (Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) for permission to collect and export samples and J. Rojas and E. Chamé Vasquez for facilitating the process of acquiring permits. Research was supported by the National Science Foundation fellowship (GRFP DGE 1106400), USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch project (CA-B-INS-0087-H), the Van den Bosch research fellowship, and the UC Mexus dissertation research grant. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K12GM000708. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 1041 East Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Kaitlyn A. Mathis

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, 130 Mulford Hall #3114, Berkeley, CA, 94702-3114, USA

    Kaitlyn A. Mathis & Neil D. Tsutsui

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  1. Kaitlyn A. Mathis
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  2. Neil D. Tsutsui
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Correspondence to Kaitlyn A. Mathis.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Fig. S1

Plot of average number of Pseudacteon lasciniosus and Pseudacteon planidorsalis phorid flies to arrive to pygidial gland bioassays with Azteca sericeasur pygidial gland extracts (SER), A. JTL020 pygidial gland extracts (JTL) or a hexane control (Control). Different letters atop bars indicate means that are different (P < 0.05). (PDF 133 kb)

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Mathis, K.A., Tsutsui, N.D. Cuticular Hydrocarbon Cues Are Used for Host Acceptance by Pseudacteon spp. Phorid Flies that Attack Azteca sericeasur Ants. J Chem Ecol 42, 286–293 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0694-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0694-y

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