Beneficial arthropod behavior mediated by airborne semiochemicals

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Abstract
Odor-mediated host-searching by femaleMicroplitis croceipes, a braconid endoparasitoid of larvalHeliothis species, was studied in a flight tunnel. Volatiles emitted by third-instarH. zea feeding on cowpea seedling leaves were released and carried with the wind, resulting either in an irregularly shaped plume, or injected with high velocity, resulting in a conically shaped jet plume. Flight maneuvers ofM. croceipes had a higher stereotype in jet plumes compared to irregularly shaped plumes. Variation in odor concentration in jet plumes due to intermittent feeding of the host larvae did not affect the number of flights. At the levels employed, odor concentration did not alter the rate of upwind progress in jet plumes. Because air velocity inside a jet increases in the upwind direction,M. crocepies regulates its ground-speed during its approach to the odor source.