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Generalist and specialist parasitoid strategies of using odours of adult drosophilid flies when searching for larval hosts

Hedlund, Katarina LU orcid ; Vet, Louise E.M. and Dicke, Marcel (1996) In Oikos 77(3). p.390-398
Abstract

Parasitoids foraging for larvae of Drosophila flies can use odours of adults of their hosts as well as odours of the food of their host larvae. Adult Drosophila deposit volatile aggregation pheromones into a substrate when mating and ovipositing. In this paper three species of parasitoids with different degrees of host specialization are compared in bioassays with regard to innate responses to aggregation pheromones of adult drosophilid hosts. Specialist parasitoids are assumed to use more specific information about their hosts than generalist parasitoids. Two phylogenetically related cucoilid parasitoids, Leptopilina boulardi a host specialist, and L. heterotoma a generalist, were attracted to odours of adult hosts in windtunnel tests.... (More)

Parasitoids foraging for larvae of Drosophila flies can use odours of adults of their hosts as well as odours of the food of their host larvae. Adult Drosophila deposit volatile aggregation pheromones into a substrate when mating and ovipositing. In this paper three species of parasitoids with different degrees of host specialization are compared in bioassays with regard to innate responses to aggregation pheromones of adult drosophilid hosts. Specialist parasitoids are assumed to use more specific information about their hosts than generalist parasitoids. Two phylogenetically related cucoilid parasitoids, Leptopilina boulardi a host specialist, and L. heterotoma a generalist, were attracted to odours of adult hosts in windtunnel tests. L. heterotoma responded to odours of all species within its host range and one non-host. The specialist L. boulardi was attracted to odours of adult hosts within its range but also to some non-host species. Production of similar pheromonal compounds by non-host and host Drosophila species can explain the reponses by L. heterotoma and L. boulardi to non- host species. A phylogenetically unrelated braconid host specialist Asobara tabida did not respond to any odours of adult hosts. However, when A. tabida females were given an oviposition experience in the presence of host pheromones, they became attracted to aggregation pheromones of their host.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Oikos
volume
77
issue
3
pages
390 - 398
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:0030303306
ISSN
0030-1299
DOI
10.2307/3545929
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a48cbec3-d6e1-48a7-be83-56b1a9d32b6f
date added to LUP
2019-01-02 12:24:46
date last changed
2022-08-10 08:33:55
@article{a48cbec3-d6e1-48a7-be83-56b1a9d32b6f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Parasitoids foraging for larvae of Drosophila flies can use odours of adults of their hosts as well as odours of the food of their host larvae. Adult Drosophila deposit volatile aggregation pheromones into a substrate when mating and ovipositing. In this paper three species of parasitoids with different degrees of host specialization are compared in bioassays with regard to innate responses to aggregation pheromones of adult drosophilid hosts. Specialist parasitoids are assumed to use more specific information about their hosts than generalist parasitoids. Two phylogenetically related cucoilid parasitoids, Leptopilina boulardi a host specialist, and L. heterotoma a generalist, were attracted to odours of adult hosts in windtunnel tests. L. heterotoma responded to odours of all species within its host range and one non-host. The specialist L. boulardi was attracted to odours of adult hosts within its range but also to some non-host species. Production of similar pheromonal compounds by non-host and host Drosophila species can explain the reponses by L. heterotoma and L. boulardi to non- host species. A phylogenetically unrelated braconid host specialist Asobara tabida did not respond to any odours of adult hosts. However, when A. tabida females were given an oviposition experience in the presence of host pheromones, they became attracted to aggregation pheromones of their host.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hedlund, Katarina and Vet, Louise E.M. and Dicke, Marcel}},
  issn         = {{0030-1299}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{390--398}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Oikos}},
  title        = {{Generalist and specialist parasitoid strategies of using odours of adult drosophilid flies when searching for larval hosts}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3545929}},
  doi          = {{10.2307/3545929}},
  volume       = {{77}},
  year         = {{1996}},
}