1. The strength of interaction between the specialist parasitoid Cotesia melitaearum and the host butterfly Melitaea cinxia is influenced by the coincidence of the adult stage of the parasitoid with the larval stage of the host. 2. We show that there is great variation in this developmental synchrony among local populations and among years, ranging from complete synchrony to complete asynchrony...

1. Most communities of insect herbivores are unlikely to be structured by resource competition, but they may be structured by apparent competition mediated by shared natural enemies. 2. The potential of three guilds of natural enemies (parasitoids, fungal entomopathogens and predators) to influence aphid community structure through indirect interactions is assessed. Based on the biology, we pre...

BACKGROUND During oviposition many parasitoid wasps inject various factors, such as polydnaviruses (PDVs), along with eggs that manipulate the physiology and development of their hosts. These manipulations are thought to benefit the parasites. However, the detailed mechanisms of insect host-parasitoid interactions are not fully understood at the molecular level. Based on recent findings that so...

1. Insect host–parasite systems allow investigations of the trophodynamics of ecological communities within a well-formed theoretical context. A little explored feature of such systems involves the interplay between generalized consumers and host–parasitoid dynamics. I report a study investigating how the impacts of generalized consumers, viewed here as interaction modifications, may influence ...

Insect host/parasitoid interactions are co-evolved systems in which host defenses are balanced by parasitoid mechanisms to disable or hide from host immune effectors. Here, we report that Pteromalus puparum venom impairs the antimicrobial activity of its host Pieris rapae. Inhibition zone results showed that bead injection induced the antimicrobial activity of the host hemolymph but that venom ...

Agricultural landscapes can be characterized as a mosaic of habitat patches interspersed with hostile matrix, or as a gradient of patches ranging from suitable to unsuitable for different species. Arthropods moving through these landscapes encounter a range of edges, with different permeability. Patches of native vegetation in these landscapes may support natural enemies of crop pests by provid...

Parasitoids are among the most important natural enemies of insects in many environments. Acyrthosiphon pisum, the pea aphid, is a common pest of the leguminous crops in temperate regions. Pea aphids are frequently attacked by a range of endoparasitic wasps, including the common aphidiine, Aphidius ervi. Immunity to parasitoid attack is thought to involve secondary symbiotic bacteria, the prese...

The effects of host age and parasitoid female age on the occurrence of 'Pseudoparasitism', using the Spodoptera littoralis-Microplitis rufiventris host-parasitoid system were investigated. The first four larval instars of the host are not equally suitable for parasitoid development. The proportion of pseudoparasitized hosts significantly increases when: (1) the age of the female parasitoid incr...

Few empirical studies have directly explored the association between Buchnera aphidicola (Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae), the primary endosymbiont of aphids, and the life history strategies of aphid parasitoids. A series of paired-choice experiments were conducted to explore the preference of the parasitoid Lysiphlebus ambiguus Halliday (Hymenoptera: Aphididae) for symbiotic and aposymb...