Abstract
Two closely related parasitoid wasp species with different host specificities were used for experimental studies on the biology of host finding, a crucial element of parasitoid life history: The habitat and host specialist Nasonia vitripennis and the habitat and host generalist Dibrachys microgastri (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae). The host finding parameters tested included reaction to olfactory cues, aspects of locomotor activity, ability to locate hidden hosts and day-night-activity. The results revealed distinct inter- specific differences that match the respective host and habitat ranges of the two species. In N. vitripennis host finding is dominated by olfactory reaction to hosts and host habitat, i.e., fly puparia and birds' nests. In D. microgastri olfactory cues have only a minor role. Its host finding is characterized by rapid searching at random. Both species are able to locate hidden hosts. Although still incomplete, these insights into host finding by two parasitoid species with different life history strategies indicate they can be char- acterized by specific combinations of behavioural host finding features.
Highlights
Host search is a vital component of parasitoid life history (Godfray, 1994)
Two closely related parasitoid wasp species with different host specificities were used for experimental studies on the biology of host finding, a crucial element of parasitoid life history: The habitat and host specialist Nasonia vitripennis and the habitat and host generalist Dibrachys microgastri (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae)
N. vitripennis females reacted to the odour from earwig faeces, earwigs and wax moth pupae even though these substrates are not associated with its hosts or habitat
Summary
Host search is a vital component of parasitoid life history (Godfray, 1994). In order to better understand parasitoid biology, host-parasitoid interactions and host-parasitoid communities it is necessary to understand how parasitoids search for hosts. N. vitripennis is a birds’ nest specialist, occasionally occurring in carrion and faeces, and strictly dipterophagous, but able to use a variety of cyclorrhaphous host species (Whiting, 1967; Peters, 2007, 2010a; Peters & Abraham, 2010). It is frequently used as a model organism in various studies on speciation, developmental genetics and sex allocation (e.g., Gadau et al, 1999; Pultz & Leaf, 2003; Werren et al, 2004; Grillenberger et al, 2008; Lynch & Desplan, 2010). A recent taxonomic revision of D. microgastri confirmed it is a highly polyphagous generalist that uses the pupal stages of various holometabolic insect species and has no habitat preferences (Peters & Abraham, 2010; Peters & Baur, 2011)
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