Predatory Behavior of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Polistes dominulus</Emphasis> Wasps in Response to Cardenolides and Glucosinolates in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pieris napi</Emphasis> Caterpillars |
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Authors: | Linda S Rayor Larissa J Mooney J Alan Renwick |
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Affiliation: | (1) Dept. of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA;(2) Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA |
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Abstract: | To examine how plant allelochemicals in prey affect foraging choices made by generalist predator paper wasps, Polistes dominulus (Vespidae), we compared predation on Pieris napi (Pieridae) caterpillars reared on host plants with different allelochemicals. In naturalistic behavioral choice experiments,
free-flying wasps chose between living pierids reared on cabbage (Brassica oleracea), which lacks deterrent allelochemicals, or alternate host plants with potentially deterrent allelochemicals. The alternative
host plants were: wormwood mustard, (Erysimum cheiranthoides: Brassicaceae), which contains cardenolides; nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus: Tropaeolaceae) with high concentrations of chlorogenic acid; and black mustard (Brassica nigra: Brassicaceae) with high concentrations of the aliphatic glucosinolate, sinigrin. Although wasps captured equal numbers of
caterpillars reared on cabbage and each alternate host plant, they spent significantly longer handling prey from the alternate
host plants as they selectively removed the caterpillar’s gut, which contained the plant material. This was true even if the
caterpillar did not sequester toxins in its tissues, as revealed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis
of Erysimum-reared pierids. Because handling time is longer, predators that capture pierids containing non-sequestered allelochemicals
experience an overall reduction in foraging rate that may translate into a fitness cost. |
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Keywords: | Predatory behavior Cardenolides Glucosinolates Polistes dominulus paper wasps Pierid larvae Tritrophic interactions Handling time Sequestration |
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