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INFLUENCE OF PLANT QUALITY ON INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE APHID PARASITOID EPHEDRUS CALIFORNICUS BAKER (HYMENOPTERA: APHIDIIDAE) AND ITS HOST, ACYRTHOSIPHON PISUM (HARRIS) (HOMOPTERA: APHIDIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

B. Stadler  and
M. Mackauer
B. Stadler
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, D-95440, Bayreuth, Germany
M. Mackauer*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
*
1 Author to whom reprint requests should he sent.
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Abstract

We determined variations in selected life-history parameters in a tritrophic system that consisted of a plant (broad bean, Vicia faba L.), an aphid (pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum), and an aphid parasitoid (Ephedras californicus). We manipulated plant and aphid quality by growing bean plants in a high- and a low-quality nutrient solution for three generations. Pea aphids adapted to reduced nutrient availability by differentially allocating resources to somatic and gonadal growth across generations. On low-quality plants, time from birth to adult increased and dry mass decreased. The number of sclerotized embryos was correlated with adult dry mass. By contrast, in E. californicus, variations in dry mass, rate of development, and number of ovarial eggs did not suggest transgenerational adaptations to resource quality as measured by aphid size. The number of mature eggs was dependent on female age. Development time varied with parasitoid sex and was independent of aphid stage at the time of death. In the low-quality treatment, males survived on average longer than females eclosing from the same kinds of hosts.

Aphids and their parasitoids have evolved flexible life-history strategies in response to variations in plant quality. Pea aphids adapted to qualitatively variable resources by optimizing the balance between somatic and gonadal investment across successive generations. But E. californicus responded to low host quality at the level of the individual, rather than across generations; the trade-off pattern was influenced by the host’s growth potential after parasitization.

Résumé

Nous avons étudié les variations de variables démographiques particulières dans un système tritrophique constitué d’une plante (la fève Vicia faba L.), d’un puceron (le Puceron du pois, Acyrthosiphon pisum) et d’un parasitoïde du puceron (Ephedrus californicus). Nous avons modifié la qualité des plants et des pucerons en cultivant des fèves dans des solutions riches et des solutions pauvres en éléments nutritifs durant trois générations. Les pucerons se sont adaptés à une nourriture appauvrie en modifiant l’équilibre entre leurs investissements somatique et gonadique pendant plusieurs générations. Sur des plants de mauvaise qualité, l’intervalle entre la naissance et l’âge adulte des pucerons a augmenté et la masse sèche a diminué. Le nombre d’embryons sclérifiés était relié à la masse sèche des adultes. En revanche, chez le parasitoïde E. californicus, ni les variations de la masse sèche ou de la vitesse du développement, ni le nombre d’oeufs dans l’ovaire n’indiquaient l’existence d’adaptations évolutives à la qualité des ressources (fonction de la taille des pucerons). Le nombre d’oeufs à maturité dépendait de l’âge des femelles. La durée du développement était fonction du sexe du parasitoïde et indépendante du stade du puceron au moment de la mort. Sur les plants de mauvaise qualité, les mâles ont survécu plus longtemps en moyenne que les femelles écloses sur le même type d’hôte.

Les pucerons et leurs parasitoïdes ont élaboré des stratégies démographiques flexibles en réaction aux variations de la qualité des plantes. Les Pucerons du pois se sont adaptés à des ressources de qualité variable en optimisant l’équilibre entre leurs investissements somatique et gonadique pendant plusieurs générations successives. En revanche, les parasitoïdes E. californicus ont réagi individuellement à la piètre qualité de l’hôte et cet ajustement n’a donc pas affecté plusieurs générations; ce système d’échange est influencé par le potentiel de croissance de l’hôte après l’arrivée du parasite.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 128 , Issue 1 , February 1996 , pp. 27 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1996

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