A cuckoo in wolves' clothing? Chemical mimicry in a specialized cuckoo wasp of the European beewolf (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae and Crabronidae)

Frontiers in Zoology
Erhard StrohmThomas Schmitt

Abstract

Host-parasite interactions are among the most important biotic relationships. Host species should evolve mechanisms to detect their enemies and employ appropriate counterstrategies. Parasites, in turn, should evolve mechanisms to evade detection and thus maximize their success. Females of the European beewolf (Philanthus triangulum, Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) hunt exclusively honeybee workers as food for their progeny. The brood cells containing the paralyzed bees are severely threatened by a highly specialized cuckoo wasp (Hedychrum rutilans, Hymenoptera, Chrysididae). Female cuckoo wasps enter beewolf nests to oviposit on paralyzed bees that are temporarily couched in the nest burrow. The cuckoo wasp larva kills the beewolf larva and feeds on it and the bees. Here, we investigated whether H. rutilans evades detection by its host. Since chemical senses are most important in the dark nest, we hypothesized that the cuckoo wasp might employ chemical camouflage. Field observations suggest that cuckoo wasps are attacked by beewolves in front of their nest, most probably after being recognized visually. In contrast, beewolves seem not to detect signs of the presence of these parasitoids neither when these had visited the nest nor whe...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Apr 17, 2008·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Erhard StrohmThomas Schmitt
Mar 25, 2011·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Johannes KroissMartin Kaltenpoth
Sep 6, 2012·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Lucie VaníčkováBlanka Kalinová
Jan 14, 2011·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Naomi E LangmoreRebecca M Kilner
Nov 18, 2015·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Tamara PokornyThomas Eltz
Oct 17, 2009·IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics·Stefan BrucknerBarry J Dickson
Aug 10, 2017·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Mareike WurdackThomas Schmitt
Jul 2, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Chenyang CaiDiying Huang

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