How two different host species influence the performance of a gregarious parasitoid: host size is not equal to host quality
Open Access
- 29 January 2007
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Animal Ecology
- Vol. 76 (2), 376-383
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01206.x
Abstract
1 Hyssopus pallidus Askew (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) is a gregarious ectoparasitoid of the two tortricid moths species Cydia molesta Busck and C. pomonella L. (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae). It paralyses and parasitizes different larval instars of both species inside the apple fruit, which leads to the death of the caterpillar. 2 We assessed the influence of host species characteristics and host food on the performance of the parasitoid female in terms of clutch size decisions and fitness of the F1 generation. 3 A comparison of clutch size revealed that female parasitoids deposited similar numbers of eggs on the comparatively smaller C. molesta hosts as on the larger C. pomonella hosts. The number of parasitoid offspring produced per weight unit of host larva was significantly higher in C. molesta than in C. pomonella, which is contrary to the general prediction that smaller hosts yield less parasitoid offspring. However, the sex ratio was not influenced by host species that differed considerably in size. 4 Despite the fact that less host resources were available per parasitoid larva feeding on C. molesta caterpillars, the mean weight of emerging female wasps was higher in the parasitoids reared on C. molesta. Furthermore, longevity of these female wasps was neither influenced by host species nor by the food their host had consumed. In addition we did not find a positive relationship between adult female weight and longevity. 5 Parasitoid females proved to be able to assess accurately the nutritional quality of an encountered host and adjust clutch size accordingly. These findings indicate that host size is not equal to host quality. Thus host size is not the only parameter to explain the nutritional quality of a given host and to predict fitness gain in the subsequent generation.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Influence of host size on the clutch size and developmental success of the gregarious ectoparasitoid Eulophus pennicornis (Nees)(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attacking larvae of the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)Journal Of Experimental Biology, 2005
- Host age and fitness‐related traits in a koinobiont aphid parasitoidEcological Entomology, 2005
- Preimaginal Environment Influences Adult Flight inCydia molesta(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)Environmental Entomology, 2004
- Development of the solitary endoparasitoid Microplitis demolitor: host quality does not increase with host age and sizeEcological Entomology, 2004
- Control Potential of Three Hymenopteran Parasitoid Species against the Bean Weevil in Stored Beans: The Effect of Adult Parasitoid Nutrition on Longevity and Progeny ProductionBiological Control, 2001
- Factors influencing the evolution of clutch size in a gregarious insect parasitoidJournal of Animal Ecology, 2000
- Host stage preference and sex allocation in Aenasius vexans, an encyrtid parasitoid of the cassava mealybugEntomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 2000
- Global and regional pest insects and their antagonists in orchards: spatial dynamicsAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 1999
- Nutritional Ecology of an Insect Host‐Parasitoid Association: The Pea Aphid‐Aphidius Ervi SystemEcology, 1992
- Zuchtmethode und semisynthetische Nährmedien für ApfelwicklerCellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 1972