Trichogramma parasitoids can distinguish between fertilized and unfertilized host eggs

Host quality varies with size, age, and species, and influences the parasitism preference of parasitoids and the fitness of their offspring. However, it is still unclear whether parasitoids have the ability to recognize fertilized and unfertilized host eggs. We studied the performance of three Trich...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pest science 2018-03, Vol.91 (2), p.771-780
Main Authors: Du, Wen-Mei, Xu, Jing, Hou, Yang-Yang, Lin, Ying, Zang, Lian-Sheng, Yang, Xiangbing, Zhang, Jun-Jie, Ruan, Chang-Chun, Desneux, Nicolas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Agriculture
Augmentation
Biological control
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Control programs
Ecology
Eggs
Entomology
Environmental Sciences
Fitness
Forestry
Host-parasite interactions
Life Sciences
Offspring
Original Paper
Parasitism
Plant Pathology
Plant Sciences
Species
Trichogramma
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Summary:Host quality varies with size, age, and species, and influences the parasitism preference of parasitoids and the fitness of their offspring. However, it is still unclear whether parasitoids have the ability to recognize fertilized and unfertilized host eggs. We studied the performance of three Trichogramma species, T. japonicum , T. chilonis , and T. leucaniae , on both fertilized and unfertilized eggs of their host Corcyra cephalonica at different host ages. In no-choice tests, three Trichogramma species parasitized significantly more fertilized than unfertilized eggs when host age was 0 days old. In choice tests, all parasitoids parasitized significantly more fertilized than unfertilized eggs at all host ages. Furthermore, the frequency of fertilized eggs visited by Trichogramma parasitoids were significantly higher than those of unfertilized eggs. The number of unfertilized eggs visited by parasitoids without ovipositing was approximately 3.7 times greater than those of fertilized eggs. In addition, all Trichogramma parasitoids developed significantly faster on fertilized than unfertilized eggs at all host ages. In summary, we find that Trichogramma were able to recognize fertilized and unfertilized host eggs in parasitism, which is conducive to biological control programs, since unfertilized eggs enlarge the host reservoir for parasitoid augmentation.
ISSN:1612-4758
1612-4766
DOI:10.1007/s10340-017-0919-z