Effect of Adult Experience on in-Flight Orientation to Plant and Plant–Host Complex Volatiles inAphidius erviHaliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae)

The effect of adult experience on in-flight orientation to plant–host complex volatiles byAphidius erviHaliday was studied in a wind tunnel bioassay, usingAcyrthosiphon pisum(Harris), maintained on broad bean plants (Vicia faba) as host. A short oviposition experience (15 s) on the plant–host complex (PHC) was sufficient to induce a drastic decrease of flight propensity and stimulated a foraging behavior characterized by intense walking activity. However, flight activity resumed to normal levels 1 h after the oviposition experience on the PHC occurred. For parasitoids conditioned on the PHC for at least 1 min the recorded proportion making oriented flights to the PHC was significantly higher than that for naive females. In contrast, oviposition experience in the absence of plant material did not influence theA. erviflight response. Oviposition attempts on aphid dummies without egg release did not reduce flight activity. WhenA. ervifemales were exposed to glass beads coated withAc. pisumcornicle secretion, a priming effect was observed, resulting, compared with naive females, in a significantly higher rate of oriented flights to the PHC. In contrast, oviposition attempts visually induced by colored aphid dummies did not influence flight behavior. A strong reaction to volatile cues from uninfested plants was induced by oviposition experience on newly infested broad bean plants. This appears to be a case of associative learning. In fact, uninfested broad bean plants are basically unattractive to naiveA. ervifemales. The results demonstrate that adult experience has a considerable influence onA. ervibehavior and may have important implications for biological control of natural pest aphid populations.     

Flight manoeuvers used by a parasitic wasp to locate host-infested plant

Cotesia rubecula Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a specialist larval parasitoid of the butterfly Pieris rapae L. which itself feeds almost exclusively upon cruciferous plants. Female wasps are attracted to the odour of host-infested plant (plant-host complex: PHC) and the probability of flights in a wind tunnel depends on females' prior oviposition experience with the PHC and on the concentration of the PHC odour. This study considers the effect of both factors on characteristics of oriented flight upwind towards the PHC. The flight track parameters that we measured and calculated were not significantly affected by these factors. C. rubecula females exhibited high average flight velocity and relatively straight flight tracks. There was a considerable variability between individuals, however, in their odour-modulated upwind flight tracks. Some females generated a zigzagging upwind flight track similar to those commonly observed from male moths responding to female sex pheromone. Other females flew along a straight track directly upwind. The flight tracks of most female wasps were intermediate between these extremes. The full range of these flight performances was observed to all experimental treatments.     

Learning of host-infested plant volatiles in the larval parasitoid Cotesia kariyai

The ability to learn plant volatiles in Cotesia kariyai females was examined by wind tunnel bioassays. Searching experience on a host-infested corn plant increased subsequent flight responses of females to the infested plant. Females experiencing host by-products together with the volatiles extracted from infested leaves one time showed an increased response. However, such behavioral changes were not observed in females which experienced only the host by-products or the volatiles. Thus, the increased response is considered to be preference learning. Multiple experiences of C. kariyai with host by-products together with the volatiles did not increase their flight response to the volatiles. Furthermore, this learned response gradually decreased within 2 days. These behavioral modifications based on experience would be advantageous for C. kariyai to locate their polyphagous hosts efficiently.     

Influence of adult experience on host microhabitat location by the generalist parasitoid,Campoletis sonorensis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

The effect of adult experience on microhabitat location behavior of the generalist parasitoid Campoletis sonorensis (Cameron)was examined in a wind tunnel bioassay. Responses were tested to the odors of two host plants (cotton and sesame) of Heliothis virescens (F.) or a nonhost plant (potato), either damaged and infested with host larvae and host products (host/plant complex) or intact, clean and uninfested. Parasitoid females remained naive or were allowed one oviposition experience on either of the plants, 1 min, 2 h, or 24 h prior their introduction into the wind tunnel. In a no-choice test, parasitoids experienced 1 min prior to bioassay completed significantly more flights to sesame and potato host/plant complexes than did naive parasitoids. However, 24 h after experience, only females experienced on potato completed more flights to the host/ plant complex than did naive females. Parasitoids experienced 1 min prior to flight to undamaged plants showed a slight increase in flight response (significant only for potato) but, after 24 h, completed only as many flights as naive parasitoids. In a dual-choice situation, parasitoids did not show a preference for either of the two host plants but did prefer a host to a nonhost plant. This innate plant preference was not changed by a single oviposition experience. The potential significance of these results to the microhabitat location behavior of C. sonorensisin the field is discussed.     

The effect of prior adult experience on components of habitat preference in the apple maggot fly (Rhagoletis pomonella)

Summary Numerous authors have suggested that genetic subdivision within a population in a heterogeneous environment is more likely if individuals tend, through prior experience, to breed in the same habitat in which they developed. Under semi-field conditions we demonstrate that prior adult experience alters habitat preference in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella (Tephritidae), a frugivorous parasitic insect thought to have undergone sympatric divergence in host use in historical times. Females exposed to a particular host fruit species — apple (Malus pumila) or hawthorn (Crataegus mollis) — in a field cage oviposited at a higher rate in test fruit of that species than did inexperienced females or females exposed to the other species. Females exposed to a particular host fruit species also tended to remain longer in test trees harboring fruit of that species than did inexperienced females or females exposed to the other species. Prior adult experience thus alters two components of habitat preference in the apple maggot fly: oviposition preference and habitat fidelity. We discuss how these effects of experience on habitat preference should increase the likelihood that individuals mate assortatively and may further increase the likelihood that apple maggot populations become genetically subdivided.     

Preimaginal conditioning does not affect oviposition preference in the diamondback moth

Abstract.  1. In holometabolous insects, learning has been demonstrated in both larval and adult stages. Whether learning can be retained through metamorphosis from larva via pupa to adult has long been a subject of debate. The present study is designed to distinguish between preimaginal and imaginal conditioning in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) using oviposition preference tests on females exposed to various types of learning experiences during immature and adult stages.
2. Cohorts of test insects were reared from egg to pupa on an artificial diet, or on one of two host plants, Chinese cabbage, Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis , and common cabbage, Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata . The ensuing females reared on the three kinds of food showed similar oviposition preference between the two plants. A brief experience of the less preferred host, common cabbage, by adults slightly increased their preference for this plant.
3. Cohorts of test insects were reared from egg to pupa on an artificial diet with or without the addition of a neem-based oviposition deterrent (Neemix^® 4.5). Larval feeding experience did not alter oviposition response to the deterrent. However, emergence conditioning and early adult learning, achieved through experience of a residue of the deterrent carried over from the larval food on pupal cuticle and cocoons, altered oviposition preference significantly.
4. The combined results revealed no evidence of preimaginal conditioning in this insect but a strong effect of emergence conditioning and early adult learning on oviposition preference.     

Condition‐Dependent Choosiness For Highly Attractive Songs In Female Canaries

Partner choice in animals has evolved under the effects of intra‐ and inter‐sexual selection. Even if a consensus between females is often observed towards some males, certain females can drastically change their mating decision. Different conditions such as early learning, mate‐choice copying, prior experience or subtle intrinsic factors can interfere with the decision. One of them is body condition of the females at the time of choosing. In this experiment, the flight feathers of female canaries Serinus canaria were cut, thus decreasing their flight ability. After a short period in a flight room, two types of artificial songs containing different tempi of the test ‘A’ phrase (16 vs. 8 syllables per second) were played to these females. It is known that only A phrases with a high tempo provoke a high level of sexual response in females. Female preference was evaluated by counting the number of Copulation Solicitation Displays (CSDs). The results show that, in both (normal and physically reduced) conditions, females prefer songs containing an A16 phrase. However, the strength of this preference is lower in females with compromised body condition than in females from the control group, suggesting a decreased choosiness in the poor body condition females.     

Effect of rearing Cactoblastis cactorum on an artificial diet on the behaviour of Apanteles opuntiarum

Cactoblastis cactorum's unintended arrival to Florida and its expansion in North America represent a threat to Opuntia-based agriculture and natural ecosystems in the United States and Mexico. Apanteles opuntiarum attacks C. cactorum and is a potential biocontrol agent due to its specificity, wide distribution and occurrence. Laboratory rearing methods using excised cladodes for C. cactorum as host larvae of A. opuntiarum were developed, but require a continuous supply of cactus with a risk of microorganisms compromising the rearing. Host cues —including odour of host metabolic subproducts like faeces and chemicals emitted by the attacked plant— are the most important signals that help a parasitoid locate a host. Little attention has been paid to behavioural differences of parasitoids in the presence of hosts reared on artificial diet. Thus, the aims of the present work were to determine the effect of meridic diet for C. cactorum on parasitoid behaviour and to determine whether prior experience (previous exposure to stimuli) influences the response of A. opuntiarum towards hosts. Parasitism rates were assessed using cladodes or meridic diet as larvae food source. Behavioural experiments also evaluated the effect of prior experience (larvae or frass from larvae fed on cactus or diet) on host searching, encounter and attack of different stimulus (larvae or frass from larvae fed on cactus or diet). Parasitism behaviour of A. opuntiarum was negatively affected by the use of meridic diet to feed host larvae. Presenting parasitoids with larvae rather than their frass influenced excitatory behavioural responses in terms of contact, probing and stinging in A. opuntiarum females, whereas the effect of prior experience on the behaviours was not quite consistent. For laboratory mass-rearing procedures of A. opuntiarum, we recommend previous contact of females with frass from cactus-fed larvae and a piece of cactus, which showed enhanced parasitism rates.     

Electroantennogram and flight orientation response of Cotesia plutellae to hexane extract of cruciferous host plants and larvae of Plutella xylostella

The braconid wasp Cotesia plutellae is an important larval parasitoid of the diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella, which a major pest of crucifers in the tropics and subtropics. The peripheral olfactory responses of antennal chemoreceptors of C. plutellae to various cruciferous host plants of DBM and host larval body (cuticle) extracts were examined by electroantennogram (EAG) detection and the behavioral response to a concentration of 1% was analyzed in a Y‐tube olfactometer. Females of C. plutellae exhibited dose‐dependant EAG response for all the extracts tested. Antennal stimulation with 0.1 and 1% concentrations elicited stronger EAG responses than lower concentrations for all the extracts. Host plant extracts were more stimulatory to virgin females, while gravid females exhibited increased antennal sensitivity to host larval body extract odors. In the flight orientation studies, virgin females exhibited increased orientation toward host plant extracts, while gravid females oriented more toward host larval body odors. The EAG response profile and the corresponding orientation behavior revealed a differential preference by the parasitoid wasp to host plant and host‐related cues. Mustard and cauliflower extracts were more attractive to females than other extracts. The possible behavioral manipulation of this specialist parasitoid using these extracts for effective biological control of diamondback moth is discussed.     

Innate Olfactory Responses of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Asobara japonica</Emphasis> Toward Fruits Infested by the Invasive Spotted Wing Drosophila

Insect parasitoids are often manipulated to improve biological control programs for various arthropod pests. Volatile compounds can be a relevant cue used by most parasitoid hymenoptera for host or host microhabitat location. Here, we studied olfactory responses of the braconid Asobara japonica Belokobylskij, an Asiatic endoparasitoid of the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), toward its host and host substrates. Adult A. japonica displayed an innate attraction to undescribed volatile cues from infested host fruits irrespectively of the juvenile rearing experience, i.e. they respond to a novel cue subsequently used for microhabitat selection. These data suggest that A. japonica parasitoids mass-reared on artificial diet and factitious host (D. melanogaster) can successfully locate their hosts. Naïve female parasitoids did not show a preference towards any of the tested host media. However, the enforced adult experience with the rearing host medium modified the olfactory preference patterns toward non-natal host fruits. These findings provide evidence of associative learning during the adult stage of A. japonica, and demonstrate its plasticity in exploiting the volatiles from various fruits infested by D. suzukii.     

Learning of host searching cues by the larval parasitoid Microplitis croceipes

We conducted laboratory experiments using a wind tunnel to determine the effects of prior experience on the learning and retention of learned responses in the larval parasitoid Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Although most females that had either antennated host frass or oviposited in a host in the presence of vanilla odor, made oriented flight to the odor from downwind in the wind tunnel at 30 min after experience, only those that had oviposited in a host with the odor responded to the odor at 24 h after experience. Females that had oviposited in the non‐natural host beet armyworm (BAW) larva with or without the odor did not respond to the odor at 30 min after experience. These results indicate that an oviposition in the host in the presence of odors strongly affects associative learning and the persistence of learned response to the odors. When females were allowed to antennate host frass in the presence of vanilla and to subsequently oviposit in a host within an interval of 5 min or less, their learned response to vanilla also persisted for 24 h. Similarly, when females were conditioned to link vanilla with host frass and then allowed to make an ovipositor contact with host hemolymph, their learned response persisted for 24 h. However, antennal contact with hemolymph after such conditioning of vanilla with host frass did not improve the persistence of learned response to the odor. These results indicate that ovipositor contact with host hemolymph during oviposition is partially responsible for an increased retention of learned response. Females responded to vanilla 48% of the time at 30 min after antennating host frass without the odor, but their response to the odor significantly decreased after oviposition in a BAW larva subsequent to the antennation of host frass. This result indicates that oviposition in a BAW larva decreases subsequent response to general odors. Based on the results, we discuss the foraging behavior of M. croceipes dependent on learning and subsequent experiences.     

Influence of Dietary Experience on the Induction of Preference of Adult Moths and Larvae for a New Olfactory Cue

In Lepidoptera, host plant selection is first conditioned by oviposition site preference of adult females followed by feeding site preference of larvae. Dietary experience to plant volatile cues can induce larval and adult host plant preference. We investigated how the parent’s and self-experience induce host preference in adult females and larvae of three lepidopteran stem borer species with different host plant ranges, namely the polyphagous Sesamia nonagrioides, the oligophagous Busseola fusca and the monophagous Busseola nairobica, and whether this induction can be linked to a neurophysiological phenotypic plasticity. The three species were conditioned to artificial diet enriched with vanillin from the neonate larvae to the adult stage during two generations. Thereafter, two-choice tests on both larvae and adults using a Y-tube olfactometer and electrophysiological (electroantennography [EAG] recordings) experiments on adults were carried out. In the polyphagous species, the induction of preference for a new olfactory cue (vanillin) by females and 3^rd instar larvae was determined by parents’ and self-experiences, without any modification of the sensitivity of the females antennae. No preference induction was found in the oligophagous and monophagous species. Our results suggest that lepidopteran stem borers may acquire preferences for new olfactory cues from the larval to the adult stage as described by Hopkins’ host selection principle (HHSP), neo-Hopkins’ principle, and the concept of ‘chemical legacy.’     

Flight and Oviposition Behavior of <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Ephestia cautella</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plodia interpunctella</Emphasis> in Response to Odors of Different Chocolate Products

The present study is included in a project with the aim to develop attractants from food odors for trapping female moths. Males and mated, but not unmated, females of Ephestia cautella and Plodia interpunctella were attracted by odors of three different chocolate products in flight tunnel experiments. Chocolate containing nut or rum elicited upwind flight and landing responses. Extracts of the chocolate products induced upwind flight in both species and both sexes. Larvae of the tested species survived best in plain chocolate (E. cautella) or nut-containing chocolate (P. interpunctella). The oviposition preference of P. interpunctella females seems to be highly adaptive, since females oviposited in the diet most suitable for larval feeding, whereas E. cautella females showed a less selective oviposition preference, between the diets tested.     

Preference induction and the benefits of floral resources for a facultative florivore

相似文献   

Effect of physiological state and fungal inoculation on chemically modulated host-plant finding by Carpophilus hemipterus and Carpophilus lugubris

Host orientation by Carpophilus hemipterus L. and Carpophilus lugubris Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) was investigated in a horizontal wind tunnel to ascertain if these species differ in their response to aseptic and fungal-inoculated hosts, and also to determine how age, nutritional status, diel period, and locomotory opportunity affect these behavioral responses. Both species responded to food odors beginning on Day 3 of adult life by walking upwind to the source; flight activity and flights to the odor source began for C. hemipterus on Day 4, but C. lugubris continued to walk to the source and rarely flew regardless of age. Both species displayed maximum response to food odors from 6 to 9 days after emergence and showed bimodality in host orientation during the photophase. C. hemipterus maintained with artificial diet took flight as frequently as when maintained with water only, as long as they were deprived of diet for 36 h before the test; however, after takeoff, beetles maintained with diet were less likely to fly to food odor in comparison to beetles maintained with water. C. lugubris maintained with diet until 36 h before the test displayed a reduction in walks upwind to sources of food odor compared to beetles maintained with water. Three hours of unrestricted locomotion under a high-pressure sodium lamp did not enhance upwind orientation to host odors by C. hemipterus maintained with diet or water, or by C. lugubris maintained with water; however, such preexposure to a sodium lamp resulted in reduced takeoffs in C. hemipterus maintained with artificial diet. Both species were attracted to all fruit and vegetable substrates offered; however, aseptic substrates were less attractive than were substrates inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen or Candida krusei (Castellani) Berkhout for C. lugubris. Despite the broad host range exhibited by these two nitidulid species, each responded to chemical cues from longrange (2.5 m), a trait once assigned to specialists.     

Evaluation of dyes for marking painted apple moths (Teia anartoides Walker, Lep. Lymantriidae) used in a sterile insect release program

Abstract  Two methods of marking painted apple moth ( Teia anartoides Walker, Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), internal and external dyes, were investigated for use with the sterile insect technique, to ensure that wild and released moths could be distinguished absolutely during the eradication program. Calco Red dye was used to mark all moths internally. It was added to artificial diet and was detectable in the adults. Dye was incorporated into the larval diet at four rates. No differences were observed in mortality of the larvae, fertility of the adult female or response of male moths to virgin females in a flight tunnel. Fluorescent powder dyes were used throughout the sterile insect program to identify irradiated moths, as well as their release location and colony. However, the powdered dyes reduced the ability of male moths to detect a component of the sex pheromone in electro-antennogram tests and to respond to a calling virgin female in flight tunnel trials. Field trials suggest that moths may subsequently overcome these negative effects and respond to female moths, as moths heavily coated in dye were recaptured.     

Role of visual cues and interaction with host odour during the host-finding behaviour of the cabbage moth

The approach and landing responses of female Mamestra brassicae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to visual cues from artificial plant leaves of different shapes and presence/absence of cabbage plant odour were investigated in a laboratory wind tunnel. The leaves were painted with cadmium yellow colour and observed under dim red light. Females showed oriented flight towards plant odours but landed significantly more often when the odour was presented with an artificial leaf. In three-choice tests, the shape of the leaf targets (circle, square or triangle) did not influence the female response. However, the size of the target did influence the insect response: the females preferred landing on square targets with sides of 5 or 10 cm rather than on the largest target, with sides of 15 cm. The orientation of the target influenced the insects' response: females landed significantly more often on the target positioned vertically than horizontally.     

Influence of experience on the sequential and temporal organization of host-acceptance behavior inBrachymeria intermedia (Chalcididae), an endoparasitoid of gypsy moth

Experienced Brachymeria intermediafemales are almost twice as likely to accept a Lymantria disparpupa as inexperienced parasitoids. The sequence of parasitoid behaviors that leads to host acceptance is highly canalized. Experienced parasitoids, however, have a higher probability of initiating host investigation and making a transition from drumming to grasping, which in turn almost invariably leads to ovipositor insertion. Experienced females found the host more quickly than inexperienced females. Host-handling time did not change with experience but was longer in females that accepted rather than rejected the host. Females exposed to gypsy moth odor but not contacting pupae behaved similarly to females that never experienced host-related stimuli.     

The use of general foraging kairomones in a generalist parasitoid

Almost no comparative studies are available on the use of general and specific infochemical cues by generalist parasitoids with hosts from different families feeding on host plants also from different families. Based on literature, two hypotheses were developed and tested with host recognition cues used by the larval parasitoid Lariophagus distinguendus . This generalist parasitizes beetle species from different families developing in seeds of plant species from the Poaceae and Fabaceae. The first hypothesis predicts that for initial encounters with host species, natural enemies should innately use general cues, which are common to all hosts and their food plants. The second hypothesis predicts that natural enemies should learn specific cues from host plant and host after experience with a host species. The first hypothesis was partly confirmed. L. distinguendus innately reacted to faecal cues from several host species and chemical analyses of faeces from these hosts revealed the common occurrence of chemicals that are used for host recognition by L. distinguendus . In disagreement with the first hypothesis, parasitoids did not innately respond to cues from plant seeds. Preference experiments on the influence of experience demonstrated an increased host recognition response towards a host after experience with it. In support of the second hypothesis, L. distinguendus females learned specific cues from herbivore-damaged wheat, rice and cowpea seeds and from the faeces of the bean weevil Callosobruchus maculatus .     

The effects of foods consumed after adult eclosion on the mate-searching behavior and feeding preferences of the white-spotted longicorn beetle Anoplophora malasiaca (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

The effects of changes in host plants on the mate-searching behavior and feeding preferences of the white-spotted longicorn beetle Anoplophora malasiaca (Thomson) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) were examined. All individuals were raised on the same artificial diet until they became pupae. Analysis of the mate-searching behavior of the males showed that many more newly emerged males were attracted to the odor of the artificial diet than to an unbaited control. We prepared three groups of beetles and fed each group on different host plants for one week. The host plants used included the following: an artificial diet (containing Morus alba Linné), Citrus unshiu Marc. branches, and Vaccinium spp. branches. The mate-searching behavior of the males changed in relation to the plant supplied for feeding. Simultaneously, the preference among the three host plants was tested. The newly emerged males preferred the artificial diet. After a week of feeding on one of the three plants, however, the adult males selected and consumed significantly more of the plant that they had just experienced than the other plants. These results suggest that the male mate-location cue can be acquired after adult eclosion. In addition, the male beetles are capable of changing their host-plant preference. If they do so, they use different odor cues for mate location. Newly emerged A. malasiaca females showed no preference for their first choice of food among the three host plants presented, whereas the consumption was significantly larger on C. unshiu branches. After one week of feeding on different host plants, females chose their host plant after the adult stage as well as C. unshiu, but consumed mostly C. unshiu. These results suggest that the food preferences of females are different from those of males. The behavior of females may not be affected by chemical signals from their original host-plant species (as pupae) or from the host-plant species acquired when they emerge as adults.