Ecological dissociation and re-association with a superior competitor alters host selection behavior in a parasitoid wasp

Extrinsic Inter- and Intraspecific Competition in Parasitoid Wasps

The diverse ecology of parasitoids is shaped by extrinsic competition, i.e., exploitative or interference competition among adult females and males for hosts and mates. Adult females use an array of morphological, chemical, and behavioral mechanisms to engage in competition that may be either intra- or interspecific. Weaker competitors are often excluded or, if they persist, use alternate host habitats, host developmental stages, or host species. Competition among adult males for mates is almost exclusively intraspecific and involves visual displays, chemical signals, and even physical combat. Extrinsic competition influences community structure through its role in competitive displacement and apparent competition. Finally, anthropogenic changes such as habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, pollutants, and climate change result in phenological mismatches and range expansions within host-parasitoid communities with consequent changes to the strength of competitive interactions. Such changes have important ramifications not only for the success of managed agroecosystems, but also for natural ecosystem functioning.

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Hymenopterans make up about 20% of all animal species, but most are poorly known and lack high-quality genomic resources. One group of important, yet under-studied hymenopterans, are parasitoid wasps in the family Braconidae. Among this under-studied group are braconid wasps in the genus Cotesia; a clade of ~1,000 species routinely used in studies of physiology, ecology, biological control, and genetics. However, our ability to understand these organisms has been hindered by a lack of genomic resources. We helped bridge this gap by generating a high-quality genome assembly for the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata (Braconidae; Microgastrinae). We generated this assembly using multiple sequencing technologies, including Oxford Nanopore, whole-genome shotgun sequencing, and 3-D chromatin contact information (Hi-C). Our assembly is one of the most contiguous, complete, and publicly available hymenopteran genomes, represented by 3,355 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 of ~28Mb and a BUSCO score of ~99%. Given the genome sizes found in closely related species, our genome assembly was ~50% larger than expected, which was apparently induced by runaway amplification of three types of repetitive elements: simple repeats, Long Terminal Repeats (LTRs), and Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements (LINEs). This assembly is another step forward for genomics across this hyper-diverse, yet understudied, order of insects. The assembled genomic data and metadata files are publicly available via Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13010549).

Relationship between volatile compounds of Picea likiangensis var. linzhiensis cone and host selection of Dioryctria abietella

This study aimed to determine the relationship between volatile compounds of Picea likiangensis var. linzhiensis cone and host selection of Dioryctria abietella. During the infestation of P. likiangensis var. linzhiensis by D. abietella, their cones and branches emitted volatile compounds, which were extracted using CH₂ Cl₂ extraction and XAD₂ adsorption methods, and were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Before and after overwintering, D. abietella larva preferred annually infested cones and their extracts, and adult D. abietella preferred to lay eggs on annually infested cones and healthy cones of the year, and the oviposition rate of adult D. abietella was 72% on branches with healthy cones of the year, and no egg was laid on branches with annually healthy cones or branches without cones. The volatile compounds after infestation, α- and β-pinene, were significantly higher in cones than those in other tissues; however, myrcene in cones was significantly lower than those in other tissues. The annually infested cones produced β-caryophyllene and (1S)-(-)-β-pinene, while the annually healthy cones and branches produced myrcene and 3-carene. The annually infested cones and their extracts attracted D. abietella larvae, while that of healthy cones and annually infested cones attracted the adults, indicating that the terpene compounds: α-pinene, β-pinene, (1S)-(-)-β-pinene, limonene, and β-caryophyllene are attractive to D. abietella, and the terpene compounds-myrcene and 3-carene-from the branch tissues may be repulsive to D. abietella.