تاثیر ترکیبات دفاعی سن Acrosternum arabicum روی رفتار کاوشگری زنبور پارازیتوئید Psix saccharicola

Scelionid parasitoids, which parasitize stink bug eggs, often employ multiple semiochemical cues to locate and recognize their hosts. These cues can originate directly from stink bug eggs or indirectly from non-host stages of stink bugs, such as the defensive compounds released from the metathoracic scent glands of stink bugs (MSG). This study aimed to investigate the effect of the MSG extract of the pistachio green stink bug, Acrosternum arabicum (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), on the foraging behavior of the egg parasitoid wasp, Psix saccharicola (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). To achieve this, we dissected male and female A. arabicum individuals to extract the metathoracic scent gland complex. The contents of the dissected glands were then extracted in 100 μl of n-hexane for 1 hour. A Y-tube olfactometer was used for bioassay. The olfactometer consisted of a 14-cm long stem and two 10-cm long arms, each with an inner diameter of 2 cm. The tests conducted under a fluorescent 1600 lux light source. The naïve, mated female parasitoids (2–3 days old) were exposed to filter paper treated with 5 μl of the gland extracts or n-hexane (control) for 10 minutes. Data were analyzed with Chi square test at P<0.05. Insects that failed to make a choice within 5 minutes were considered non-responders and were excluded from the statistical analyses. The results showed that a significantly higher proportion of parasitoids were attracted to the n-hexane extracts of A. arabicum males (χ2 = 7.177, P = 0.007, N = 30) and females (χ2 = 6.944, P = 0.008, N = 30) compared to the n-hexane control. However, there were no statistically significant differences in parasitoid choices between male and female extracts (χ2 = 0.693, P = 0.405, N = 30) and between clean air and n-hexane (χ2 = 0.287, P = 0.592, N = 30). These findings suggest that the egg parasitoid P. saccharicola is able to detect and respond to semiochemical cues emanating from the metathoracic scent glands of its host. Understanding the complex relationships between host and parasitoid mediated by semiochemicals is crucial for improving the effectiveness of integrated pest control strategies.