Sex Ratio Manipulation by Parasitoid Wasps

Proximal mechanisms of the sex ratio and clutch size responses of the wasp Nasonia vitripennis to parasitized hosts

Female Nasonia vitripennis lay fewer eggs and increase the proportion of male offspring when ovipositing in previously parasitized hosts compared to unparasitized hosts. This study examines the location and nature of the cues that females use in these clutch size and sex ratio decisions. Neither the sex ratio nor the clutch size response relies on chemical cues on, or a hole drilled in, the out...

B. H. KING Sex ratio responses to other parasitoid wasps: multiple adaptive explanations

In an effort to distinguish among adaptive models and to improve our understanding of behavioral mechanisms of sex ratio manipulation, this study examines sex ratio response to other wasps in the solitary parasitoid wasp Spalangia cameroni. Relative to when alone, females produced a greater proportion of sons in the presence of conspecifics, regardless of whether the conspecifics were female or...

Sex-ratio Manipulation by the Parasitoid Wasp Muscidifurax Raptor in Response to Host Size.

Information constraints and the precision of adaptation: sex ratio manipulation in wasps.

Sex allocation theory offers excellent opportunities for studying the precision of adaptation. One of the best-supported areas in the field of sex allocation is Hamilton's theory of local mate competition, which predicts female-biased offspring sex ratios when populations are structured such that mating takes place locally before females disperse. As predicted by local mate competition theory, ...

The impact of host aggressiveness on sex allocation by the gregarious parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata (L.).

Parasitoid wasps lay female eggs or a high proportion of female eggs in favourable host insects because female wasps require many more resources during their development. Many studies have tested the effects of host physiological status on the sex allocation of parasitoids, but few have attempted to test the effects of host behavioural traits. Cotesia glomerata is a gregarious parasitoid wasp t...