Combined use of herbivore‐induced plant volatiles and sex pheromones for mate location in braconid parasitoids. (7th October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Hao; Desurmont, Gaylord; Degen, Thomas; Zhou, Guoxin; Laplanche, Diane; Henryk, Luka; Turlings, Ted C.J.
• Is Part Of: Plant, cell and environment. Volume 40:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 330
• Page End: 339
• Publication Date: 2016-10-07
• Subjects: caterpillar‐induced plant volatiles -- leaf volatiles -- mate‐finding strategy -- plant–insect interactions -- tritrophic interactions; Plant physiology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Plant communities -- Periodicals; 581.105
• DOI: 10.1111/pce.12818
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-7791

Abstract

Abstract: Herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are important cues for female parasitic wasps to find hosts. Here, we investigated the possibility that HIPVs may also serve parasitoids as cues to locate mates. To test this, the odour preferences of four braconid wasps – the gregarious parasitoid Cotesia glomerata (L.) and the solitary parasitoids Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson), Microplitis rufiventris Kokujev and Microplitis mediator (Haliday) – were studied in olfactometers. Each species showed attraction to pheromones but in somewhat different ways. Males of the two Cotesia species were attracted to virgin females, whereas females of M. rufiventris were attracted to virgin males. Male and female M. mediator exhibited attraction to both sexes. Importantly, female and male wasps of all four species were strongly attracted by HIPVs, independent of mating status. In most cases, male wasps were also attracted to intact plants. The wasps preferred the combination of HIPVs and pheromones over plant odours alone, except M. mediator, which appears to mainly use HIPVs for mate location. We discuss the ecological contexts in which the combined use of pheromones and HIPVs by parasitoids can be expected. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that braconid parasitoids use HIPVs and pheromones in combination to locate mates. Abstract : We demonstrate that parasitic wasps use herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) in combination with sex pheromones to locate mates, and foraging for hosts and mates are both orientated by HIPVs in parasitoids. To our knowledge, no other study has specifically addressed the use of HIPVs in mate location of parasitoids, and the inclusion of four species of wasps allows us not only to draw several general conclusions but also to call attention to the differences among species in terms of mate‐searching strategies.