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HOST DISCRIMINATION BY THE APHID PARASITOID APHELINUS ASYCHIS (HYMENOPTERA: APHELINIDAE): WHEN SUPERPARASITISM IS NOT ADAPTIVE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

B. Bai  and
M. Mackauer
B. Bai
Affiliation:
Centre for Pest Management, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
M. Mackauer
Affiliation:
Centre for Pest Management, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
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Abstract

Females of the solitary parasitoid Aphelinus asychis Walker discriminated between unparasitized and parasitized second-instar nymphs of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Wasps normally avoided superparasitism, except when they were confined with few hosts for a long time. Parasitoid females did not need previous experience with unparasitized aphids (learning) in order to discriminate. They probed with the ovipositor any aphids encountered, a behaviour suggesting that host acceptance and rejection were determined by internal cues. Prolonged ovipositor insertion (>80 s) was correlated with host acceptance and egg deposition, but short insertion times (≤80 s) generally indicated host rejection. Females tended to reject both self- and conspecific-parasitized aphids when provided with two of each kind. We consider hypotheses mat conspecific superparasitism may be adaptive and give examples to show exceptions. We propose that, in egg-limited parasitoid species such as A. asychis, a reproductive strategy based on the regulation of egg production and on oosorption can explain the equal avoidance of self and conspecific superparasitism.

Résumé

Les femelles du parasitoïde solitaire Aphelinus asychis Walker discriminent entre des larves de deuxième stade parasitées et non-parasitées du puceron du pois, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Les guêpes ont généralement évité le superparasitisme, sauf lorsque limitées à un petit nombre d’hôtes pour une longue période. Le pouvoir de discrimination des femelles parasitoïdes n’a pas requis d’expérience antécédente avec des pucerons non-parasités (apprentissage). A l’aide de leur ovipositeur, elles ont sondé tous les pucerons rencontrés, un comportement qui suggère que l’acceptation ou le rejet d’un hôte était déterminé par des indices internes. Les longues insertions d’ovipositeur (>80 s) étaient corrélées avec l’acceptation de l’hôte et la ponte d’oeufs, mais les courtes insertions (≤80 s) indiquaient généralement le rejet de l’hôte. Les femelles ont eu tendance à rejeter des pucerons parasités par elles-même ou par des femelles con-spécifiques lorsqu’on leur en a offert deux de chaque type. Nous considérons des hypothèses selon lesquelles le superparasitisme con-spécifique peut être adaptif et donnons des exemples d’exceptions. Nous proposons que chez les espèces de parasitoïdes dont le nombre d’oeufs est limité, comme c’est le cas chez A. asychis, une stratégie reproductrice basée sur la régulation de la production d’oeufs et sur l’oösorption peut expliquer la tendance égale à éviter le superparasitisme con-spécifique et personnel.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 122 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 363 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1990

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