Abstract
Thirty species from 5 families of parasitic Hymenoptera contained the 12–18 carbon fatty acids laurate, myristate, palmitate, palmitoleate, stearate, oleate, linoleate, and linolenate. The fatty acid compositions of nearly all parasitoids were qualitatively the same as those of the individual hosts on which the parasitoids were reared, but, quantitatively, the compositions displayed varying degrees of difference from those of the hosts. The fatty acid compositions of some members of the Ichneumonidae were duplicates of their hosts. These parasitoids retained no characteristic fatty acid composition when reared on alternate hosts with differing fatty acid compositions, and they therefore lack the usual mechanism of regulation over fatty acid levels as it exists in most insects. A relationship is suggested between the number of host species recorded for individual parasitic species and the degree of similarity between the fatty acid compositions of the parasitoids and their hosts. It may be that regulation of fatty acid composition is one of the many factors influencing host suitability, and that lack of this regulation by a parasitoid enables it to grow and develop on a wider variety of hosts which differ markedly in fatty acid composition.
Published Version
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