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Kleptoparasitism as an explanation for paradoxical oviposition decisions of the parasitoid Asobara tabida
Author(s) -
Kraaijeveld
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1420-9101.1999.00016.x
Subject(s) - parasitoid , biology , kleptoparasitism , larva , foraging , optimal foraging theory , ecology , zoology , host (biology) , melanogaster , drosophila melanogaster , gene , biochemistry
It is known that the braconid Asobara tabida , a parasitoid of Drosophila larvae, takes oviposition decisions in accordance with survival probabilities in several host species. Nevertheless, larvae of D. simulans , in which the survival probability is virtually zero, are readily accepted for oviposition by searching females. This even happens when they are offered together with D. melanogaster larvae, in which the parasitoid can develop. Here I show that A. tabida can act as a kleptoparasitoid in D. simulans larvae: it can develop in D. simulans larvae, once these larvae are parasitized by another parasitoid, the eucoilid Leptopilina boulardi . Analysis with an optimal foraging model suggests that the increase in survival probability and the occurrence of L. boulardi in the field are high enough to make this kleptoparasitic behaviour of A. tabida pay.