title: Risk of egg parasitoid attraction depends on anti-aphrodisiac titre in the large cabbage white butterfly Pieris brassicae.
abstract: Males of a variety of insects transfer an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone to females during mating that renders them less attractive to conspecific males. In cabbage white butterflies, the transfer of an anti-aphrodisiac can result in the unwanted attraction of tiny egg parasitoid wasps of the genus Trichogramma that hitch-hike with mated female butterflies to a host plant where they parasitize the freshly laid butterfly eggs. Here, we show that the anti-aphrodisiac benzyl cyanide (BC) of the large cabbage white Pieris brassicae is depleted by frequent display of the mate-refusal posture that signals a female's unreceptivity to mating. This depletion of BC is ecologically important because it results in a reduced risk of attracting the hitch-hiking egg parasitoid Trichogramma brassicae to mated female butterflies over time since mating. Our results indicate for the first time that a reduction in anti-aphrodisiac titre in mated females due to frequent adoption of the mate-refusal posture is beneficial to both mated females and males particularly when parasitoid pressure is high.
authors: Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ties.huigens@wur.nl
authors: Martinus E
authors: ME
authors: Huigens
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: de Swart
authors: Roland
authors: R
authors: Mumm
mesh_terms: D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001046:Aphrodisiacs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D001937:Brassica / Q000469:parasitology; D002080:Butterflies / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D010058:Oviposition; D010063:Ovum / Q000469:parasitology; D010675:Pheromones; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000097:Acetonitriles; D001046:Aphrodisiacs; D010675:Pheromones; C006725:benzyl cyanide