Abstract
The larva of the parasitic waspZatypotasp. nr.solanoiinduces its host spidersAnelosimusspp. to modify its web in ways not seen in normal webs of this species or in any other species, providing apparent protection and support for the wasp's cocoon by covering the entire web with a protective sheet and adding a central platform and opening a space below in the enclosed tangle, where the larva suspends its cocoon. These modifications differ qualitatively from those induced by a congeneric wasp. Parasitized spiders appeared to adjust modified web construction behavior to local conditions, implying that larval manipulations may occur at higher rather than lower levels of behavioral control (e.g., eliciting overall design decisions, rather than particular motor patterns).
Highlights
The behavior of some animals changes when they are parasitized
In all species of polysphinctine wasps known to modify the behavior of their web-spinning host spiders [8,9,10,11,12,13,14, 16], the manipulated spider performs fragments of behavior patterns that are used to build normal webs or retreats
In some spiders (Plesiometa, Allocyclosa, Agelena) these behavioral fragments are combined to produce structures that are apparently never produced by nonparasitized spiders [11], while in others (Nephila, perhaps Theridion) the resulting structures are at least somewhat similar to those of normal webs [9, 10]
Summary
The behavior of some animals changes when they are parasitized. The possibility that such changes are adaptive for the parasite has been controversial, because some alterations may be incidental byproducts of the parasite’s effects on its host [1]. Other changes are well designed to promote the survival of the parasite, and are thought to represent manipulation of the host to the parasite’s advantage [2,3,4,5]. Different wasp species show diverse and subtle effects on host behavior, and these effects consistently take advantage of particular features of the web designs of unparasitized spiders of the different hosts to provide protective structures for their cocoons. This rare species (1.1% of the 374 A. octavius spiders sampled systematically were parasitized) induces still different behavioral changes; these changes are adjusted to the biology and behavior of their hosts
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