An endoparasitic life style is widespread among Hymenoptera, and various different strategies allowing parasitoids to escape from the host encapsulation response have been reported. Species carrying polydnaviruses (PDVs), such as the ichneumonid Hyposoter didymator, generally rely on the viral symbionts to evade host immune responses. In this work, we show that H. didymator eggs can evade encap...

A recently established colony of the ichneumonid parasitoid, Hyposoter exiguae, was found to carry both a reovirus (HeRV) and a polydnavirus (HePDV). Morphogenesis of these viruses was observed in all cells comprising the ovarian calyx epithelium, apparently without detrimental effect to the parasitoid. While polydnavirus replication in H. exiguae was restricted to the calyx region, HeRV was de...

Context Understanding how ecosystems function to deliver services is essential if we are limit the impacts off human activities. Aim We hypothesised that increased densities of whelk, Pyrazus ebeninus, and crab, Macrophthalmus setosus, up four times (given their large body-size ecological roles, e.g. consuming deposits disturbing sediments) would affect macrofaunal community it functions in a s...

Background: Buried carrion can help in forensic investigation cases determining the post-burial-interval (PBI), movement of body or hiding crime. The current study aims to determine succession ant species on rabbit carcass buried an outdoor habitat King Saud University, Western Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: In present study, twelve rabbits were at 20 cm and 40 two different periods. After 10, ...

The parasitoid wasp, Hyposoter horticola, parasitizes a nearly fixed fraction of its host butterfly larvae within a host metapopulation of 300–500 local populations in a 50 3 70-km area. We show, through laboratory observation, that the wasp lays eggs in fully developed larvae that have not yet hatched from the egg, constraining the period of host vulnerability to several hours out of the host’...

The venom gland is a conserved organ in Hymenoptera that shows adaptations associated with life-style diversification. Few studies have investigated venom components and function in the highly diverse parasitic wasps and all suggest that the venom regulates host physiology. We explored the venom of the endoparasitoid Hyposoter didymator (Campopleginae), a species with an associated polydnavirus...

1. We describe the pattern of colonization of suitable, but currently empty, habitat by a host butterfly and two specialist parasitoids living in a highly fragmented landscape. 2. Using survey data collected over 8 years, field sampling and small-scale experiments we show that the ability of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) to colonize new habitat is intermediate between tha...