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Behavioral Studies of the Parasitoid Bracon vulgaris Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

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Abstract

Bracon vulgaris is a larval ectoparasitoid of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, a key cotton pest We investigated the influence of parasitoid age, photoperiod and host availability on B. vulgaris parasitism. Five- and 10-day-old parasitoids were exposed to A. grandis densities of three, six, 12 and 24 larvae per female. Five-day-old females showed higher parasitism rates (F = 21.55, P < 0.0001), with a positive increase in parasitism rate up to 12 larvae, parasitizing an average (±SE) of 1.3 (±0.12), 3.4 (±0.35) and 4.4 (±0.45) larvae (at the densities of 3, 6 and 12 larvae, respectively), dropping to 1.4 (±0.17) when 24 larvae were offered. Next, the period of most parasitism activity during the photophase was determined by exposing five-day-old B. vulgaris females to different durations of light exposure (1, 3, 6, 8 and 10 h) after 12 h darkness. Results showed that the shortest time to host location occurred 8 h after light exposure, when parasitoids were most active searching for the host. A sequence of seven behavioral acts leading to successful parasitism was identified and the transitions between successive behavioral acts were quantified and depicted in an ethogram. The longest duration act was oviposition (or host acceptance), a complex behavior with several distinct phases.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Foundation for providing grants to the first and second author, respectively. We also acknowledge Embrapa-Algodão for partially supporting the development this research and R.R. Costa for the preparation of ethogram figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departmento de Agronomia-Entomologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil

    Thiago J. S. Alves, Christian S. A. Silva-Torres & Jorge B. Torres

  2. Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil

    Valéria Wanderley-Teixeira & Álvaro A. C. Teixeira

  3. Embrapa Algodão, Rua Oswaldo Cruz n° 1143, Campina Grande-PB, 58428-095, Brazil

    Tardelly A. Lima & Francisco S. Ramalho

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  1. Thiago J. S. Alves
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  2. Christian S. A. Silva-Torres
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  3. Valéria Wanderley-Teixeira
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  4. Álvaro A. C. Teixeira
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  7. Francisco S. Ramalho
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Correspondence to Thiago J. S. Alves.

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Alves, T.J.S., Silva-Torres, C.S.A., Wanderley-Teixeira, V. et al. Behavioral Studies of the Parasitoid Bracon vulgaris Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). J Insect Behav 28, 604–617 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-015-9529-x

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