Abstract
AbstractWe investigated the response of the tachinid fly, Exorista japonica (Townsend), to host frass or its extracts in order to clarify the host location mechanisms of female flies in a potential host habitat. Host searching time in a patch and the number of patch visits were analyzed by using a frass‐containing patch which was excreted by host larvae, Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and patches to which host frass extracts were applied. E. japonica females were arrested in response to the host‐frass‐containing patch after contacting the frass with their front tarsi, thereby spending most of the time to search the patch and to revisit the host‐frass patch. While host‐searching time in the patch by the females was longest at their first visit of a patch with host frass, searching time decreased with successive visits. The female flies also exhibited area‐restricted searching with methanol extracts of the host frass. Area‐restricted searching activity increased with the concentration of host‐frass extract, i.e., total searching time in the patch and the number of patch visits varied in a dose‐dependent manner. E. japonica females likely employ chemicals in host frass as arrestants in host location.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
