In the Nick of Time: Males of the Parasitoid Wasp Pimpla disparis Respond to Semiochemicals from Emerging Mates
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| Authors: | Hrabar, M; Danci, A; Schaefer, PW; Gries, G |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Journal: | Journal of Chemical Ecology 38: 253-261 Article Link (DOI) |
| Title: | In the Nick of Time: Males of the Parasitoid Wasp Pimpla disparis Respond to Semiochemicals from Emerging Mates |
| Abstract: | Males of the parasitoid wasp Pimpla disparis Viereck (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) aggregate on parasitized gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, host pupae when the emergence of a prospective mate is imminent or under way. We tested the hypotheses that the developing parasitoid ("DePa") inside the host pupal case produces a pheromone that attracts and arrests mate-seeking males, and that the pheromone is most effective during the emergence of the parasitoid from the host. Results obtained in two-choice laboratory experiments, with 4-7-d-old virgin males, indicate that (1) DePa-derived semiochemicals arrest males, (2) the opening of a host pupal case strongly arrests males, and (3) the arrestment cue emanates from oral fluid secreted by both female and male parasitoids while they chew their way out of a host pupal case. This phenomenon implies that emerging females, which are haplodiploid and can reproduce without mating, do not engage in active pheromone signaling to attract males, and that mate-seeking males co-opt chemicals involved in eclosion as a mate-finding cue, taking a 50% chance that the prospective mate is a female. |
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