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Development of the gregarious ectoparasitoid N asonia vitripennis using five species of necrophagous flies as hosts and at various developmental temperatures
Author(s) -
Rivers David B.,
Losinger Michael
Publication year - 2014
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 - 10.1111/eea.12182
Subject(s) - biology , parasitism , parasitoid , fecundity , pupa , zoology , host (biology) , hymenoptera , sex ratio , larva , ecology , population , demography , sociology
The utility of five species of necrophagous flies ( D iptera) as pupal hosts for N asonia vitripennis ( W alker) ( H ymenoptera: P teromalidae) was examined by comparing incidences of parasitism, fecundity, and several features of wasp development at three rearing temperatures. Species differences in host suitability were evident in all life history features examined, with the highest incidences of parasitism, largest clutches and adult body sizes, and shortest periods of development occurring when the sarcophagid S arcophaga bullata P arker served as hosts, regardless of temperature in which the wasps developed. Puparia of the calliphorids L ucilia illustris M eigen, P hormia regina M eigen, and P rotophormia terraenovae R obineau‐ D esvoidy were also accepted as hosts by the female parasitoids, albeit not equally so, and each yielded large, female‐biased broods. By contrast, pupae of the calliphorid C hrysomya rufifacies ( M acquart) were not well suited to serve as an oviposition site or support the development of N . vitripennis . When successful parasitism did occur on any host species, duration of parasitoid development increased, adult body sizes were truncated, male‐biased sex ratios were produced, and mortality from egg hatch to adult emergence elevated with increasing rearing temperature. Unlike with the four other fly species, C . rufifacies did not yield any adult parasitoids when the rearing temperature was 35 °C. The results argue that developmental data determined for this wasp derived from a single host species is not sufficient for applying to all scenarios in which wasp development is necessary to estimate a postmortem interval or periods of insect activity.