| Title: | In the nick of time: males of the parasitoid wasp Pimpla disparis respond to semiochemicals from emerging mates |
| Author(s): | Hrabar M; Danci A; Schaefer PW; Gries G; |
| Address: | "Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-012-0079-9 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Males of the parasitoid wasp Pimpla disparis Viereck (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) aggregate on parasitized gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, host pupae when the emergence of a prospective mate is imminent or under way. We tested the hypotheses that the developing parasitoid ('DePa') inside the host pupal case produces a pheromone that attracts and arrests mate-seeking males, and that the pheromone is most effective during the emergence of the parasitoid from the host. Results obtained in two-choice laboratory experiments, with 4-7-d-old virgin males, indicate that (1) DePa-derived semiochemicals arrest males, (2) the opening of a host pupal case strongly arrests males, and (3) the arrestment cue emanates from oral fluid secreted by both female and male parasitoids while they chew their way out of a host pupal case. This phenomenon implies that emerging females, which are haplodiploid and can reproduce without mating, do not engage in active pheromone signaling to attract males, and that mate-seeking males co-opt chemicals involved in eclosion as a mate-finding cue, taking a 50% chance that the prospective mate is a female" |
| Keywords: | Animals Female *Host-Parasite Interactions Male Moths/*parasitology Pheromones/*metabolism Pupa/parasitology Wasps/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHrabar, Michael Danci, Adela Schaefer, Paul W Gries, Gerhard eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2012/03/07 J Chem Ecol. 2012 Mar; 38(3):253-61. doi: 10.1007/s10886-012-0079-9. Epub 2012 Mar 6" |
