Host microhabitat location by stemborer parasitoid Cotesia flavipes: the role of herbivore volatiles and locally and systemically induced plant volatiles

TY - JOUR

T1 - Host microhabitat location by stemborer parasitoid Cotesia flavipes: the role of herbivore volatiles and locally and systemically induced plant volatiles

AU - Potting, R.P.J.

AU - Vet, L.E.M.

AU - Dicke, M.

N1 - Reporting year: 1995 Metis note: 13603;article; knaw:76

PY - 1995

Y1 - 1995

N2 - The origin of olfactory stimuli involved in the host microhabitat location inCotesia flavipes, a parasitoid of stem-borer larvae, was investigated in a Y-tube olfactometer. The response of femaleC. flavipes towards different components of the plant-host complex, consisting of a maize plant infested with two or more larvae of the stem borerChilo partellus, was tested in dualchoice tests. The concealed lifestyle of the stem-borer larvae did not limit the emission of volatiles attractive to a parasitoid. A major source of the attractive volatiles from the plant-host complex was the stem-borer-injured stem, including the frass produced by the feeding larvae. Moreover, the production of volatiles attractive to a parasitoid was not restricted to the infested stem part but occurs systemically throughout the plant. The uninfested leaves of a stem-borer-infested plant were found to emit volatiles that attract femaleC. flavipes. We further demonstrate that an exogenous elicitor of this systemic plant response is situated in the regurgitate of a stem-borer larva. When a minor amount of regurgitate is inoculated into the stem of an uninfested plant, the leaves of the treated plant emit volatiles that attract femaleC. flavipes.

AB - The origin of olfactory stimuli involved in the host microhabitat location inCotesia flavipes, a parasitoid of stem-borer larvae, was investigated in a Y-tube olfactometer. The response of femaleC. flavipes towards different components of the plant-host complex, consisting of a maize plant infested with two or more larvae of the stem borerChilo partellus, was tested in dualchoice tests. The concealed lifestyle of the stem-borer larvae did not limit the emission of volatiles attractive to a parasitoid. A major source of the attractive volatiles from the plant-host complex was the stem-borer-injured stem, including the frass produced by the feeding larvae. Moreover, the production of volatiles attractive to a parasitoid was not restricted to the infested stem part but occurs systemically throughout the plant. The uninfested leaves of a stem-borer-infested plant were found to emit volatiles that attract femaleC. flavipes. We further demonstrate that an exogenous elicitor of this systemic plant response is situated in the regurgitate of a stem-borer larva. When a minor amount of regurgitate is inoculated into the stem of an uninfested plant, the leaves of the treated plant emit volatiles that attract femaleC. flavipes.

U2 - 10.1007/BF02033699

DO - 10.1007/BF02033699

M3 - Article

SN - 0098-0331

VL - 21

SP - 525

EP - 539

JO - Journal of Chemical Ecology

JF - Journal of Chemical Ecology

IS - 5

ER -