ODOR LEARNING BY LEPTOPILINA-BOULARDI, A SPECIALIST PARASITOID (HYMENOPTERA, EUCOILIDAE)

We studied odor learning in Leptopilina boulardi, a specialist larval parasitoid of Drosophila melanogaster. The behavioral responses of differently experienced females to an artificial odor (Must de Cartier, Paris) were analyzed using a four-armed airflow olfactometer. The responses of females with an oviposition experience in the presence of the perfume were compared with those of four control groups. As controls we used naive females, females with an oviposition experience in the absence of odor, females which had been previously exposed to perfume but without an oviposition experience, and females with an oviposition experience which also had been exposed to perfume but not at the same time. The results demonstrate that a specialist such as L. boulardi can learn very well to respond to an artificial odor by associating this odor with a reward, i.e., an oviposition. The four control groups responded more or less in a similar way.