Cover Picture and Issue Information

Abstract

Functional EcologyVolume 37, Issue 4 p. 793-795 COVER PICTURE AND ISSUE INFORMATIONFree Access Cover Picture and Issue Information First published: 05 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14074AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Graphical Abstract This caterpillar, Manduca sexta, is parasitized by a wasp, Cotesia congregata (credit: Laura McMillan). The female wasp injects eggs, venom, and a domesticated virus (polydnavirus) into the host. The caterpillar shows normal behaviour while the wasp larvae are developing inside the caterpillar’s blood space. Once the wasp larvae are ready to metamorphose into adult wasps, they scape their way through the body wall of the caterpillar and spin a cocoon. At this stage, the caterpillar loses all self-generated behaviour but shows heightened defense reflexes, thereby becoming a bodyguard for the wasp cocoons. Who pays for manipulating the host’s behaviour, mother or offspring? In this system, the mother wasp appears to pay most of the cost by producing the polydnavirus. However, the wasp larvae also play a role in inducing changes for their own individual benefit. For example, they numb the area of the caterpillar’s body wall around their exit hole, thus reducing the risk of host attack. There are many species of parasitic wasps, with different life histories (e.g. how many offspring are placed within each host), and these differences alter the selective forces on who pays for parasitic manipulation (10.1111/1365-2435.14150). Volume37, Issue4Special Feature: Mechanisms and Consequences of Infection‐Induced PhenotypesApril 2023Pages 793-795 RelatedInformation