| Title: | Hyperparasitoids exploit herbivore-induced plant volatiles during host location to assess host quality and non-host identity |
| Author(s): | Cusumano A; Harvey JA; Dicke M; Poelman EH; |
| Address: | "Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. cusumanoantonino@tiscali.it. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00442-019-04352-w |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-1939 (Electronic) 0029-8549 (Print) 0029-8549 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Although consumers often rely on chemical information to optimize their foraging strategies, it is poorly understood how top carnivores above the third trophic level find resources in heterogeneous environments. Hyperparasitoids are a common group of organisms in the fourth trophic level that lay their eggs in or on the body of other parasitoid hosts. Such top carnivores use herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) to find caterpillars containing parasitoid host larvae. Hyperparasitoids forage in complex environments where hosts of different quality may be present alongside non-host parasitoid species, each of which can develop in multiple herbivore species. Because both the identity of the herbivore species and its parasitization status can affect the composition of HIPV emission, hyperparasitoids encounter considerable variation in HIPVs during host location. Here, we combined laboratory and field experiments to investigate the role of HIPVs in host selection of hyperparasitoids that search for hosts in a multi-parasitoid multi-herbivore context. In a wild Brassica oleracea-based food web, the hyperparasitoid Lysibia nana preferred HIPVs emitted in response to caterpillars parasitized by the gregarious host Cotesia glomerata over the non-host Hyposoter ebeninus. However, no plant-mediated discrimination occurred between the solitary host C. rubecula and the non-host H. ebeninus. Under both laboratory and field conditions, hyperparasitoid responses were not affected by the herbivore species (Pieris brassicae or P. rapae) in which the three primary parasitoid species developed. Our study shows that HIPVs are an important source of information within multitrophic interaction networks allowing hyperparasitoids to find their preferred hosts in heterogeneous environments" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Butterflies Food Chain Herbivory Host-Parasite Interactions Larva *Wasps Fourth trophic level organisms Hyperparasitoid foraging behavior Multitrophic interactions Non-host parasitoid species Plant-based food web; |
| Notes: | "MedlineCusumano, Antonino Harvey, Jeffrey A Dicke, Marcel Poelman, Erik H eng 655178/H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions/ 677139/H2020 European Research Council/ Germany 2019/02/07 Oecologia. 2019 Mar; 189(3):699-709. doi: 10.1007/s00442-019-04352-w. Epub 2019 Feb 5" |
