Title: | Risk of egg parasitoid attraction depends on anti-aphrodisiac titre in the large cabbage white butterfly Pieris brassicae |
Author(s): | Huigens ME; de Swart E; Mumm R; |
Address: | "Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ties.huigens@wur.nl" |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-011-9935-2 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Print) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Males of a variety of insects transfer an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone to females during mating that renders them less attractive to conspecific males. In cabbage white butterflies, the transfer of an anti-aphrodisiac can result in the unwanted attraction of tiny egg parasitoid wasps of the genus Trichogramma that hitch-hike with mated female butterflies to a host plant where they parasitize the freshly laid butterfly eggs. Here, we show that the anti-aphrodisiac benzyl cyanide (BC) of the large cabbage white Pieris brassicae is depleted by frequent display of the mate-refusal posture that signals a female's unreceptivity to mating. This depletion of BC is ecologically important because it results in a reduced risk of attracting the hitch-hiking egg parasitoid Trichogramma brassicae to mated female butterflies over time since mating. Our results indicate for the first time that a reduction in anti-aphrodisiac titre in mated females due to frequent adoption of the mate-refusal posture is beneficial to both mated females and males particularly when parasitoid pressure is high" |
Keywords: | Acetonitriles/*analysis Animals Aphrodisiacs/*antagonists & inhibitors Brassica/parasitology *Butterflies/parasitology/physiology Female Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Male Olfactory Perception Oviposition Ovum/parasitology Pheromones Sexual Behavio; |
Notes: | "MedlineHuigens, Martinus E de Swart, Erik Mumm, Roland eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2011/04/01 J Chem Ecol. 2011 Apr; 37(4):364-7. doi: 10.1007/s10886-011-9935-2. Epub 2011 Mar 31" |