Host selection of <i>Dolichogenidea tasmanica</i>: implications for conservation biological control of light brown apple moth

Bui, H.T.; Yazdani, Maryam; Keller, Michael A.

doi:10.1080/09583157.2019.1709620

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 46 publications

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“…Late instar hosts were more likely to avoid oviposition attacks by escaping and swaying. The higher probability of encountering and evaluating late instar hosts (4th and 5th instars) could be attributed to the fact that parasitoids can use visual and/or chemosensory cues to locate hosts in a short-range ( Battaglia et al 1995 , 2000 , Mackauer et al 1996 , Powell et al 1998 , Weinbrenner and Volkl 2002 , He et al 2011 ) and older hosts are more visible and emit more semiochemicals ( Hanan et al 2015 , Khatri et al 2016 , Bui et al 2020 ). The behavioral divergence occurred after the evaluation phase: the females preferred to pierce and feed on mid-aged nymphs (3rd instar) and probe and parasitize late instar ones (4th and 5th instars).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasitoid–host interaction behaviors in relation to host stages in the Tamarixia triozae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)–Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae) system

Chen,

He,

Zhou

et al. 2024

Journal of Insect Science

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Females of host-feeding parasitic wasps often partition hosts of different stages for feeding and parasitization, but the underlying behavioral mechanisms are largely unknown, making it difficult to evaluate parasitoid–host interactions and their effects on biological control success. Tamarixia triozae (Burks) is an ectoparasitoid of tomato-potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Šulc), which utilizes nymphs and kills them both by parasitization and host feeding. In this study, we exposed female wasps to 1st- to 5th-instar psyllid nymphs simultaneously and made 13-h continuous video recording of parasitoid–host interactions. We then quantified host stage-dependent handling time for feeding and oviposition and behaviors of parasitoid attacks and host defenses from encountering to successful feeding and oviposition. Female wasps were more likely to encounter and evaluate older hosts. However, the encounter and evaluation did not necessarily result in the success of feeding and oviposition. Our findings suggest that (i) T. triozae continues to assess the host using its ovipositor after the evaluation phase, (ii) females prefer the mid-aged hosts for feeding piercing and feeding and the later instars for oviposition probing and oviposition, (iii) the combination of stage-specific host nutrition value, integument thickness and defense behavior determines the success of feeding attacks, and (iv) the optimal host resource for parasitoid offspring fitness defines host stage selection for oviposition. This study contributes to our understanding of parasitoid–host interactions and mechanisms behind host stage selections.

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