Volatile Infochemicals from Rhyzopertha dominica Larvae and Larval Feces Involved in Theocolax elegans Host Habitat Location

Simple Summary Food protection is a key issue to guarantee food security. One of the major criticisms is related to insect pests, which can severely damage stored products. Control of stored product pests widely relies on synthetic pesticides, which are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. In this context, the application of chemicals during post-harvest should be limited, and natural enemies, like parasitoid wasps, might be useful for biologically based pest management programs. The effectiveness of this approach under field conditions is still uncertain, and more information about parasitoid biology and behavior can be valuable to improve mass rearing and control strategies. This study investigates the host habitat location behavior of Theocolax elegans, a generalist parasitoid attacking several stored product pests, including Rhyzopertha dominica, a key pest species of stored grains. Bioassays demonstrated that the parasitoid females were not attracted by intact kernels; indeed, the parasitoid females were strongly attracted by infested wheat and by the host feces, locating the suitable hosts through the characteristic volatile infochemicals emitted by these substrates. Results from the present research are encouraging and suggest that biological control agents might be used to reduce the amount of synthetic insecticides. The development of biologically based approaches for stored product pest control is needed to reduce chemical inputs. Bioassays were performed to investigate host habitat location in the trophic interaction durum wheat/Rhyzopertha dominica/Theocolax elegans. GC-MS analyses were carried out to identify some chemical compounds produced by the host-related substrates. Choice and no-choice experiments demonstrated that female parasitoids were poorly attracted to intact kernels with respect to the infested substrates. Furthermore, T. elegans females performed longer residence time on infested wheat, and they generally displayed a short-term like fidelity for this cue, remaining on it during the whole observation. Infested wheat emitted one chemical (fenchone), which is possibly linked to host larvae presence, while the feces produced by host larvae emitted some other characteristic compounds. Results demonstrated that the presence of host larvae is a key factor for T. elegans host habitat location, considering that the attractiveness of the undamaged wheat is irrelevant. Furthermore, parasitoid females tended to stay on attractive cues, limiting the risk of contamination of other commodities. Biological control tools may be useful to improve the efficiency of pest management programs, but their application should be carefully evaluated.

Automated summary

Food protection is crucial for ensuring food security, with insect pests posing a major challenge. Biological control tools may help reduce the use of synthetic insecticides, and parasitoid wasps show strong attraction to infested substrates.