Induced niche shift as an anti-predator response for an endoparasitoid

Abstract

When two developmental stages do not share the same ecological niche, the control of the niche shift through a change in developmental timing, referred to as 'heterokairy', can provide an adaptive advantage for the individual (e.g. if mortality risk is higher in the first niche). For endoparasitic species that develop inside another (host) species, mortality of the host may directly induce mortality risk for the parasite. Thus, endoparasitoid larvae should be selected for response to host predation. In this study, aphids previously parasitized by the endoparasitoid Endaphis fugitiva, Gagné and Muratori (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), were experimentally exposed to increased mortality risks. Both simulated attack and actual predator attacks against aphid hosts induced early emergence of the parasitoid larvae. Parasitoid emergence from the aphids occurred several minutes before the predator finished feeding on the aphid, allowing enough time for the parasitoid larvae to avoid direct predation. Predator-induced emergence produced significantly smaller parasitoid larvae than controls, but, interestingly, no effect on Endaphis adult size was found. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of induced emergence in an insect parasitoid, but we suggest that this mechanism might be at work in many other species where plasticity in development time allows the individual to perform an adaptive niche shift.