Insect oviposition in herbaceous plants attracts egg parasitoids despite fungal phytopathogen infection

Abstract

Egg parasitoids are important natural enemies of several insect pests. The ability to kill the pest before it can inflict damage to the plant makes egg parasitoids ideal candidates for biological control. Several studies have shown that egg parasitoids exploit oviposition-induced plant volatiles (OIPVs) to locate host eggs laid on plant organs. Yet such studies have often overlooked that, in nature, plants frequently suffer concurrent attack by insect herbivores and phytopathogens. These dual attacks can modify the emission of induced plant volatiles, which may potentially interfere with the host location abilities of egg parasitoids. We investigated this research question using the following study organisms: the broad bean Vicia faba, the plant pathogen Stemphylium sp., the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula and its associated egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis. We showed that T. basalis is able to exploit OPIVs in order to locate N. viridula egg masses even when V. faba plants were previously infected by Stemphylium sp. Chemical analyses indicate that the egg parasitoid ability to exploit OIPVs persists despite significant alterations of the volatile blends emitted by plants suffering multiple biotic stresses. This study highlights the importance of incorporating the complexity of multiple biotic stresses when studying parasitoid foraging behavior, in order to comprehend how to enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies in crop protection.