Anaphes iole Girault is a solitary egg parasitoid which attacks Lygus spp. In a low-parasitoid-density experiment (parasitoid:host ratio 5 1:40) 10.0% of available Lygus hesperus Knight eggs were superparasitized by A. iole. However, in experiments with a high parasitoid density (parasitoid:host ratio 5 1:9), superparasitism of L. hesperus eggs was 33.3, 66.7, and 82.2% after exposure for 2, 6,...

Endoparasitoids can be killed by host encapsulation, a cellular-mediated host immunological response against parasitism that involves hemocytes aggregation. As a counteracting strategy, many parasitoids can evade this host response through self-superparasitism. The objectives of this study were: 1) to describe the parasitoid Pseudapanteles dignus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) early immature stages ...

1. Superparasitism has been rendered many times as detrimental for fitness, although there are examples in which the competing winning larvae compensate its development. Here, we studied if, host-parasitoid system Cyclocephala signaticollis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) – Mallophora ruficauda (Diptera: Asilidae), have compensatory mechanisms during development to overcome competition. 2. Through a...

ooencyrtus fecundus ferriere & voegele (hymenoptera: encyrtidae) is one of the gregarious egg parasitoids of sunn pest that can superparasitize the host. superparasitism has inverse effects on fitness, reproductive potential, competition ability and adult size of gregarious parasitoids. in this study, the effects of superparasitism and its intensity (four levels including singleton, twin, tripl...

the biological parameters of sympiesis striatipes ashmead, one of the most abundant hymenopterous ectoparasitoid of phyllocnistis citrella stainton in ehime province of japan, were studied under laboratory and field conditions. the mean immature developmental time and adult longevity at different temperatures (22 to 31â°c), 50-70% rh and 12l: 12d photoperiod decreased as the temperature increas...

introduction: lysiphlebus fabarum marshall (hymenoptera: braconidae: aphidiinae) is a common aphidiine parasitoid in central europe, where it attacks more than 70 species of aphids. although both unisexual (thelytokous) and bisexual (arrhenotokous) strains of l. fabarum have been reported in iran, the former appear to be more widely distributed. aphid control in iran relies heavily on pesticide...

Symbionts are widespread and might have a substantial effect on the outcome of interactions between species, such as in host-parasitoid systems. Here, we studied the effects of symbionts on the outcome of host-parasitoid interactions in a four-partner system, consisting of the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi, its two hosts Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, the wasp virus LbFV, and t...

Parasitoid wasps are convenient subjects for testing sex allocation theory. However, their intricate life histories are often insufficiently captured in simple analytical models. In the polyembryonic wasp Copidosoma koehleri, a clone of genetically identical offspring develops from each egg. Male clones contain fewer individuals than female clones. Some female larvae develop into soldiers that ...

The oviposition-preference–offspring-performance hypothesis predicts that female insects should prefer to deposit clutches on or in hosts that maximize offspring performance. An important assumption behind this prediction is that female fitness is tightly correlated with the fitness of any one offspring. In this study, we evaluate offspring performance in the walnut fly, Rhagoletis juglandis Cr...