Analyses of an egg recognition kairomone ofTelenomus heliothidis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) Isolation and host function.

Two large proteins (>330 K) present in the accessory gland ofHeliothis virescens F. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) serve as an egg recognition kairomone for the parasitoidTelenomus heliothidis Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). Glass beads coated with the isolated proteins were examined and probed by the parasitoid while uncoated glass beads were not. Electrophoretic analysis of the contents of theH. virescens accessory gland suggests that the gland's contents serve as an egg adhesive. Comparison of the gland proteins revealed that theT. heliothidis hostHeliothis zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) accessory gland contained the kairomonally active proteins while the nonhostSpodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) did not.