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oai:recercat.cat:20.500.12327/27252025-10-22T11:06:05Zcom_2072_4428com_2072_4427col_2072_487898

2025-10-22T11:06:05Z urn:hdl:20.500.12327/2725 Honeydew Is a Food Source and a Contact Kairomone for Aphelinus mali Peñalver-Cruz, Ainara Satour, Pascale Jaloux, Bruno Lavandero, Blas Producció Vegetal Protecció Vegetal Sostenible Many parasitoids need to feed on sugar sources at the adult stage. Although nectar has been proven to be a source of higher nutritional quality compared to honeydew excreted by phloem feeders, the latter can provide the necessary carbohydrates for parasitoids and increase their longevity, fecundity and host searching time. Honeydew is not only a trophic resource for parasitoids, but it can also constitute an olfactory stimulus involved in host searching. In this study, we combined longevity measurements in the laboratory, olfactometry and feeding history inference of individuals caught in the field to test the hypothesis that honeydew excreted by the aphid Eriosoma lanigerum could serve as a trophic resource for its parasitoid Aphelinus mali as well as a kairomone used by the parasitoid to discover its hosts. Results indicate that honeydew increased longevity of A. mali females if water was provided. Water could be necessary to feed on this food source because of its viscosity and its coating by wax. The presence of honeydew allowed longer stinging events by A. mali on E. lanigerum. However, no preference towards honeydew was observed, when given the choice. The role of honeydew excreted by E. lanigerum on A. mali feeding and searching behavior to increase its efficiency as a biological control agent is discussed. 2025-10-22T11:06:05Z 2025-10-22T11:06:05Z 2023-04-29 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Peñalver‐Cruz, Ainara, Pascale Satour, Bruno Jaloux, and Blas Lavandero. 2023. “Honeydew Is a Food Source and a Contact Kairomone for Aphelinus Mali.” Insects 14 (5): 426. doi:10.3390/insects14050426. 2075-4450 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/2725 https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14050426 eng Insects http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Attribution 4.0 International MDPI