Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Minia University, El-Minya, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 15;11(1):3796. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83354-2.
The information that female insects perceive and use during oviposition site selection is complex and varies by species and ecological niche. Even in relatively unexploited niches, females interact directly and indirectly with conspecifics at oviposition sites. These interactions can take the form of host marking and re-assessment of prior oviposition sites during the decision-making process. Considerable research has focused on the niche breadth and host preference of the polyphagous invasive pest Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), but little information exists on how conspecific signals modulate oviposition behavior. We investigated three layers of social information that female D. suzukii may use in oviposition site selection-(1) pre-existing egg density, (2) pre-existing larval occupation, and (3) host marking by adults. We found that the presence of larvae and host marking, but not egg density, influenced oviposition behavior and that the two factors interacted over time. Adult marking appeared to deter oviposition only in the presence of an unmarked substrate. These results are the first behavioral evidence for a host marking pheromone in a species of Drosophila. These findings may also help elucidate D. suzukii infestation and preference patterns within crop fields and natural areas.
昆虫在产卵地点选择过程中感知和利用的信息是复杂的，并且因物种和生态位而异。即使在相对未被开发的生态位中，雌性在产卵地点也会与同种个体直接或间接相互作用。这些相互作用可以采取在决策过程中对先前产卵地点进行宿主标记和重新评估的形式。大量研究集中在多食性入侵害虫黑腹果蝇（Drosophila suzukii）的生态位宽度和宿主偏好上，但关于同种信号如何调节产卵行为的信息很少。我们研究了雌性 D. suzukii 可能在产卵地点选择中使用的三个层次的社会信息-（1）预先存在的卵密度，（2）预先存在的幼虫占领，以及（3）成虫的宿主标记。我们发现，幼虫的存在和宿主标记，但不是卵密度，会影响产卵行为，并且这两个因素随着时间的推移而相互作用。只有在未标记的基质存在的情况下，成虫标记似乎才会阻止产卵。这些结果是果蝇属中存在宿主标记信息素的第一个行为证据。这些发现还可能有助于阐明 D. suzukii 在作物田和自然区域中的侵染和偏好模式。
