Applied Entomology and Zoology (2009) 44, 23-28

Hiroyuki Takemoto, Wilf Powell, John Pickett, Yooichi Kainoh and Junji Takabayashi (2009)
Learning is involved in the response of parasitic wasps Aphidius ervi (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) to volatiles from a broad bean plant, Vicia faba (Fabaceae), infested by aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae)
Applied Entomology and Zoology 44 (1), 23-28
Abstract: It has been reported that volatiles from broad bean plants, Vicia faba (cv. `the Sutton ') infested by the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, attract a specialist parasitoid Aphidius ervi, collected from populations in England, Italy and Bulgaria, which had no previous experience of the host-infested plant volatiles. Aphidius ervi collected in Hokkaido, Japan were also attracted to volatiles from host-infested broad bean plants (cv. `Nintoku Issun ') in preference to those from intact plants in a Y-tube olfactometer when the wasps were allowed to emerge on the infested plants, but wasps that had emerged in a clean Petri dish showed no significant choice between the two odor sources. When artificially exposed to the infested plant volatiles during emergence from the mummy, the wasps showed a significant preference for infested plant volatiles over those from intact plants. In further studies in a wind tunnel, significantly more wasps landed on infested plants than on intact plants when wasps were exposed to infested plant volatiles. Naïve wasps, however, did not show a higher landing response to infested plants. These data suggest that learning is required by A. ervi of the Hokkaido strain for their response to infested plant volatiles in their host searching behavior.
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Database assignments for author(s): Junji Takabayashi, Yooichi Kainoh, John A. Pickett

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Acyrthosiphon pisum	Broad/faba bean (Vicia faba)	Japan
Aphidius ervi (parasitoid)	Acyrthosiphon pisum	Broad/faba bean (Vicia faba)	Japan