Singing on the wings! Male wing fanning performances affect female willingness to copulate in the aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae)

Lysiphlebustestaceipes(Hymenoptera:Braconidae:Aphidiinae)isageneralist endoparasitoid attacking more than 100aphid species. In L. testaceipes, wing fanning is a main male courtship display evoked by a female-borne sex pheromone. However, no information is available on the characteristics and behavioral role of male fanning during courtship in this parasitoid. Here, the courtship behavior of a wild strain of L. testaceipes wasquantifiedandthemalewingfanningperformanceswereanalyzedthroughhigh-speed video recordings and examined in relation to mating success. Courtship sequence of wild L.testaceipesdidnotsubstantiallydifferfromthatpreviouslyreportedforotherpopulations mass reared on aphids. We observed that the male courtship duration did not affect mating success.However,videoanalysisrevealedthatthemalesproducinghigh-frequencyfanning signals achieved higher mating success over those that display low-frequency fanning. Wing fanning before successful and unsuccessful courtship differed in amplitude of wing movements and alignment toward the mate, highlighting that frontal courtship positively influencethefemalematingdecisions.Thisstudyincreasesknowledgeonsexualbehavior inakeyparasitoidofaphids,highlightingtheimportanceofwingfanningamongtherange ofsensorymodalitiesusedinthesexualcommunicationofL.testaceipes.Fromapractical point of view, this information is useful in L. testaceipes-based biocontrol strategies, since it can help to establish parameters for quality checking of mass-reared wasps over time.