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Investigating the effects of symbiotic fungi on the flight behaviour of Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2016
Abstract
The invasive woodwasp Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is obligately associated with the symbiotic white rot fungus Amylostereum areolatum (Chaillet ex Fries) Boidin (Basidiomycota: Amylosteraceae), and shows positive chemotaxis to volatiles emitted by this symbiont. After introduction to North America, S. noctilio was collected carrying another fungus species Amylostereum chailletii (Persoon) Boidin, used symbiotically by native North American Sirex Linnaeus. We conducted flight behaviour studies in a walk-in flight tunnel to evaluate specificity of the attraction of mated and unmated S. noctilio to its primary symbiont, A. areolatum, versus the alternative symbiont, A. chailletii. Fewer unmated than mated S. noctilio females responded to either of the fungi. Unmated females showed no landing preference but mated S. noctilio females were attracted to A. areolatum although avoidance of A. chailletii was not complete. Chemical analysis demonstrated major differences in the volatile profiles of the two fungal species. Sesquiterpenes dominated the A. areolatum samples, whereas only two aromatic volatiles were consistently present in the native A. chailletii.
- Type
- Behaviour & Ecology
- Information
- Copyright
- © Entomological Society of Canada 2016
Footnotes
Subject editor: Michael Sharkey
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