Abstract
Animal medication is a behavioral strategy to resist enemies based on the use of substances from the environment. While it has been observed in several animals, whether invasive species can use medication to resist new enemies during its expansion is unknown. Here, we show that the worldwide invasive pest Drosophila suzukii performs trans-generational prophylactic medication by adapting its oviposition behavior in the presence of enemies. We find that flies preferentially lay their eggs on media containing atropine – an entomotoxic alkaloid – in the presence of parasitoids. We further show that flies developing on atropine more efficiently resist parasitization by parasitoids. Finally, we find that developing in hosts reared on atropine strongly impacts the life-history traits of parasitoids. This protective behavior is reported for the first time in a pest and invasive species, and suggests that animal medication may be an important driver of population dynamics during invasions.
Highlights
Animal medication is a behavioral strategy to resist enemies based on the use of substances from the environment
Animal medication is a behavioral strategy used by some species to clear a natural enemy or to reduce its symptoms by taking advantage of molecules produced by some plant species[1,2]
Trichopria. cf. drosophilae females laid 46% of their eggs on D. suzukii pupae reared on regular medium and 54% on D. suzukii pupae reared on atropine medium
Summary
Animal medication is a behavioral strategy to resist enemies based on the use of substances from the environment. We find that developing in hosts reared on atropine strongly impacts the life-history traits of parasitoids This protective behavior is reported for the first time in a pest and invasive species, and suggests that animal medication may be an important driver of population dynamics during invasions. Trapped between the bottom-up control of food quality and the top-down control of natural enemies, phytophagous insects need to develop a wide variety of responses to survive Among these responses, there is growing attention on behavioral resistance strategies that make use of environmental molecules, commonly referred to as animal medication[1,2]. D. suzukii was previously shown to exhibit a high oviposition and development rate in lab conditions on the fruits of Atropa belladonna (Solanacea)[15], a plant species with high concentrations of entomotoxic alkaloids, mostly atropine[17,18]. We postulated that to benefit from the properties of atropine against www.nature.com/scientificreports/
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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.
