Environmental Entomology (1983) 12, 1504-1508

Gary J. Brewer, Edgar L. Sorensen and Ernst K. Horber (1983)
Attractiveness of glandular and simple-haired Medicago clones with different degrees of resistance to the alfalfa seed chalcid (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) tested in an olfactometer
Environmental Entomology 12 (5), 1504-1508
Abstract: Olfactory behavior of the alfalfa seed chalcid, Bruchophagus roddi Guss., was studied using a Y-tube olfactometer. Leaves, flowers, and pods of glandular and simpled-haired Medicago clones with varying seed chalcid resistance were tested. Pods were tested at days 5 to 12 after pollination. Of the plant parts tested, only pods were attractive to the seed chalcids. Attractiveness varied with pod age. Pod aroma stimulated seed chalcid movement to the pods but was not significantly related to resistance or to hair type. Both simple and glandular-haired clones (susceptible and resistant) were attractive for variable periods. Our observations suggest that chemical and mechanical tactile cues are used by the chalcid to select oviposition sites; thus, the use of an olfactometer to screen Medicago lines for seed chalcid resistance is not recommended.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bruchophagus roddi	Alfalfa/lucerne (Medicago sativa)