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Herbivore egg deposition induces tea leaves to arrest the egg‐larval parasitoid A scogaster reticulata
Author(s) -
Deshpande Sujata A.,
Kainoh Yooichi
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2012.01275.x
Subject(s) - parasitoid , biology , braconidae , olfactometer , lepidoptera genitalia , tortricidae , botany , kairomone , host (biology) , larva , horticulture , ecology
Plants are able to activate direct and indirect defences against egg deposition by herbivorous insects. A known indirect defence is the production of synomones to help egg‐ and egg‐larval parasitoids to locate their hosts. The wasp A scogaster reticulata Watanabe ( H ymenoptera: Braconidae) is a solitary egg‐larval parasitoid of the moth A doxophyes honmai Yasuda (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), which lays eggs and feeds as caterpillars on the leaves of the tea plant C amellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze (Theaceae). Here, we studied whether or not oviposition by A . honmai induces tea plants to produce synomones that help the parasitoid to locate its host. An olfactometer bioassay suggested that synomones produced by the infested plants did not attract the parasitoid over a short range. However, a contact bioassay showed that tea leaves were induced to arrest the parasitoid 24 h after egg deposition and remained induced until the host‐egg masses were no more attractive to the parasitoids. Wing scales and deposits of adult moths and the contents of the egg masses did not induce the tea leaves to arrest the parasitoid, but the contents of the female moth's reproductive system did. Synomone induction was systemic: uninfested leaves in the vicinity of egg‐laden leaves also arrested the parasitoid.