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Analysis of searching movements of a leafminer parasitoid in a structured environment
Author(s) -
CASAS J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1988.tb01119.x
Subject(s) - eulophidae , biology , parasitoid , hymenoptera , lepidoptera genitalia , host (biology) , ecology , botany
.Pnigalio soemius (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) is a polyphagous ectoparasitoid of the apple leafminer Phyllonorycter cydo‐niella (Lepidoptera, Gracillaridae). The tracks of females searching on the unmined leaf lamina and on the mine were segmented into 2 mm steps and analysed for angle distributions and correlations between successive steps. The movements on the mine are characterized by a higher mean and higher variance of turn angles compared to the turn angles on the leaf (kinesis‐reaction family). Both klinokinesis and schemakinesis, for which a more precise definition is proposed, are present. Varying the step length has a great influence on the result and can be used to identify different orientation reactions within one track. The insect turns sharply once the mine border has been reached, a behaviour shown to be a crude taxis. An ecologically related species, Sympiesis sericeicornis (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), moves in the same way. For this species a taxis towards the host could also be observed. A complex mixture of these orientation behaviours allows the parasitoid to remain on the mine and to localise the host.