Learning and memory in Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae)

The egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi Ashmead, 1893 is an important natural control agent of stink bugs. Its success as a parasitoid depends on its host-locating ability, which may be influenced by learning and memory. This study used lemongrass [Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf. (Poales, Poaceae)] extract to assess the capacity for learning and memory retention time of T. podisi at different developmental stages of the immature phase. Eggs of Euschistus heros (Fabricius, 1798) (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) parasitized by T. podisi and at different parasitoid juvenile developmental stages were isolated in glass tubes containing filter paper with lemongrass extract or acetone solvent (control). After emergence, T. podisi females were tested in a Y-tube olfactometer containing both scents. Inexperienced females were subjected to the same scents as experienced. To assess memory, females that emerged from eggs that were in contact with lemongrass extract throughout the immature developmental stage were given a choice between lemongrass extract and acetone when they were 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours old. Females that had contact with the lemongrass during the juvenile phase preferred lemongrass, while inexperienced females or those exposed to acetone chose the solvent. The presence of lemongrass all through the immature developmental stage altered the chemotaxic orientation of T. podisi and prompted learning in these organisms that lasted for up to 72 hours.