Entomopathogenic nematodes increase predation success by inducing cadaver volatiles that attract healthy herbivores

Zhang, Xi; Machado, Ricardo AR; Doan, Van Cong; Arce, Carla CM; Hu, Lingfei; Robert, Christelle AM (2019). Entomopathogenic nematodes increase predation success by inducing cadaver volatiles that attract healthy herbivores. eLife, 8(e46668) eLife Sciences Publications 10.7554/eLife.46668

Preview

Text elife-46668-v1.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (4MB) | Preview

Herbivore natural enemies protect plants by regulating herbivore populations. Whether they can alter the behavior of their prey to increase predation success is unknown. We investigate if and how infection by the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora changes the behavior of healthy larvae of the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera), a major pest of maize. We found that nematode-infected rootworm cadavers are attractive to rootworm larvae, and that this behavior increases nematode reproductive success. Nematode-infected rootworms release distinct volatile bouquets, including the unusual volatile butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). BHT alone attracts rootworms, and increases nematode reproductive success. A screen of different nematode and herbivore species shows that attraction of healthy hosts to nematode-infected cadavers is widespread and likely involves species-specific volatile cues. This study reveals a new facet of the biology of herbivore natural enemies that boosts their predation success by increasing the probability of host encounters.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

211 since deposited on 28 Feb 2020
33 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item