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Intraspecific larval competition in two solitary parasitoids, Apoanagyrus ( Epidinocarsis ) lopezi and Leptomastix dactylopii
Author(s) -
Baaren Joan,
Né JeanPierre
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1046/j.1570-7458.1996.00103.x
Subject(s) - parasitoid , encyrtidae , biology , hymenoptera , larva , zoology , intraspecific competition , competition (biology) , ecology
Encyrtid Hymenoptera, Apoanagyrus ( Epidinocarsis ) lopezi De Santis and Leptomastix dactylopii Howard are strictly solitary endoparasitoids of mealybug larvae and adults, Phenacoccus manihoti Matile‐Ferrero and Planococcus citri Risso (Pseudococcidae), respectively. For both species, the survival rate of the supernumerary parasitoid according to the time interval between the two ovipositions has been determined by dissecting superparasitized hosts. For A. lopezi , the survival rate of the second parasitoid is at least equal to 30% when the time interval between the two ovipositions is less than 2 days, then it drops rapidly down to 10%. For L. dactylopii , the survival rate of the second parasitoid is 23% for a one hour interval between the two ovipositions and thereafter decreases very rapidly to reach a stable value of 7%. Differences between the two species might be partly due to the immunological defense reactions of their respective hosts. In the two Encyrtidae, supernumerary individuals are eliminated partly by physical attack between larvae at the L2 stage and partly by a physiological suppression of the second parasitoid by the first at the egg or larval stage. Earlier findings had shown that females of each species oviposit preferentially in hosts in which their progeny has the highest probability of survival: this would indicate that the adaptive value of conspecific superparasitism depends essentially on the survival rate of the second parasitoid in superparasitized hosts.