We investigated the effect of mutual interference on the attack efficiency and the rate of successful parasitism on the parasitoid Spalangia cameroni (Perkins) attacking pupae of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L.). Female parasitoids (2, 4, 8, 16, or 32) were exposed to 100 fly pupae during 24 h. The number of pupae that were attacked and the number successfully parasitized increased with ...

trissolcus grandis thomson is a solitary egg parasitoid of sunn pest, eurygaster integriceps puton. although widely distributed, it has often been overlooked in field surveys. our objectives were to develop an efficient rearing technique for t. grandis, and to determine the basic bionomics and demographic parameters, necessary for future augmentative biological control programs. exposure of 0-4...

Avian brood parasites have evolved striking begging ability that often allows them to prevail over the host progeny in competition for parental resources. Host young are therefore selected by brood parasites to evolve behavioral strategies that reduce the cost of parasitism. We tested the prediction that the intensity of nestling begging displays functioning to attract parental care increases a...

1. Testosterone (T) co-ordinates the seasonal and sex-specific expression of numerous physiological, behavioural and morphological traits that contribute to male reproductive success. However, increased susceptibility to parasitism has been proposed as a potential cost of elevated plasma T. 2. During the spring breeding season, male striped plateau lizards Sceloporus virgatus harbour significan...

Parasites play key ecological and evolutionary roles through the costs they impose on their host. In wild populations, the effect of parasitism is likely to vary considerably with environmental conditions, which may affect the availability of resources to hosts for defense. However, the interaction between parasitism and prevailing conditions is rarely quantified. In addition to environmental v...

The reproductive and developmental biology of Gonatocerus triguttatus Girault, a parasitoid of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar), was determined at five constant temperatures in the laboratory; 15, 20, 25, 30, and 33 C. At 25 C, G. triguttatus maintained the highest successful parasitism rates with 25.1% of oviposition leading to emerging parasitoid larvae and low...

Laboratory, greenhouse and field studies were conducted on Oomyzus sokolowskii Kurdjumov, a parasite of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), to judge its suitability for introduction in the field to control the plutellid. Oomyzus sokolowskii preferred the third and fourth instar diamondback moth larvae over fresh pupae for parasitization. It is thus a larval parasite. Within the range of...

Evidence from grassland experiments suggests that a plant community's phylogenetic diversity (PD) is a strong predictor of ecosystem processes, even stronger than species richness per se This has, however, never been extended to species-rich forests and host-parasitoid interactions. We used cavity-nesting Hymenoptera and their parasitoids collected in a subtropical forest as a model system to t...

1. Brood parasitism is an interaction that negatively affects reproductive success of host species, some of which have evolved defences to reduce offspring mortality caused by the parasites. In this study, we analyse the responses to interspecific brood parasitism of a dung beetle species, Onthophagus merdarius , in which reproductive success is heavily affected by parasitic beetles. 2. We used...