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J Anim Ecol

Title:		Herbivore-induced plant volatiles as cues for habitat assessment by a foraging parasitoid
Author(s):		Tentelier C; Fauvergue X;
Address:		"Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UMR 1112 Reponse des Organismes aux Stress Environnementaux, 400, Routes des Chappes, BP 167, 06903 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France. cedric.tentelier@helsinki.fi"
Journal Title:		J Anim Ecol
Year:		2007
Volume:		76
Issue:		1
Page Number:		1 - 8
DOI:		10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01171.x
ISSN/ISBN:		0021-8790 (Print) 0021-8790 (Linking)
Abstract:		"1. Animals usually require information about the current state of their habitat to optimize their behaviour. For this, they can use a learning process through which their estimate is continually updated according to the cues they perceive. Identifying these cues is a long-standing but still inveterate challenge for ecologists. 2. The use of plant cues by aphid parasitoids for the assessment of habitat profitability and the adaptation of patch exploitation was studied. Grounding on predictions from optimal foraging theory, we tested whether parasitoids exploited host patches less intensively after visiting heavily infested plants than after visiting plants bearing fewer aphids. 3. As predicted, after visiting heavily infested plants parasitoids reduced their residence time and attacked fewer hosts in the next patch. This was the case regardless of whether the aphids were actually present on the first plant, indicating that the cue came from the plant. Moreover, the level of infestation of a plant at some distance from the first plant visited affected parasitoid patch exploitation on the second plant in a similar manner, indicating that the cue was volatile. 4. These results highlight a novel role of herbivore-induced volatiles in parasitoid foraging behaviour, different from the widely studied attraction at a distance"
Keywords:		Animals Aphids/*physiology Cucumis sativus/*metabolism Cues *Ecosystem Feeding Behavior/*physiology Host-Parasite Interactions Time Factors Volatilization Wasps/*physiology;
Notes:		"MedlineTentelier, Cedric Fauvergue, Xavier eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2006/12/23 J Anim Ecol. 2007 Jan; 76(1):1-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01171.x"