Olfactory Responses of Parasitoid Apoanagyrus lopezi to Odor of Plants, Mealybugs, and Plant–Mealybug Complexes

Abstract

Apoanagyrus (Epidinocarsis) lopezi De Santis is an endoparasitoid used in the biological control of the cassava mealybug Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero in Africa. The response of naive and mated females of A. lopezi to odors from cassava plant (var. Zanaga), parasitized or unparasitized mealybugs, and plant–mealybug host complexes with or without feeding hosts was investigated in a Y-tube olfactometer. Dual-choice tests revealed that mealybug-infested plants and mealybug-damaged plants were the major sources of volatiles that attract female parasitoids to the microhabitat of its hosts. The emission of volatile chemicals appears not to be limited to the infested plant part but to occur systemically throughout the plant. On their own, unparasitized mealybugs were more attractive than uninfested plants or parasitized mealybugs alone. Parasitization of P. manihoti by A. lopezi decreased the response of parasitoids to mealybugs or mealybug–plant complexes. Plants infested with unparasitized hosts attracted more female parasitoids than plants infested with parasitized mealybugs. These results indicate that, in the long-range host-searching process, females of A. lopezi respond mainly to mealybug-induced synomones, and specific host-derived cues play a minor role.