Some dynamical consequences of parasitoid diapause

Parasitoid diapause usually serves to synchronize parasitoids with host populations that are undergoing diapause, to avoid some period of unsuitable conditions. Non‐synchronizing diapause can occur, however, in a number of situations. For example, a fraction of the diapausing parasitoids may stay dormant for a number of seasons. Parasitoids attacking each generation of a multivoltine host may enter a “bank” of diapausing individuals that will emerge at the beginning of the next season. Finally, parasitoid diapause initiation may be driven by density‐dependent processes. I examine the effect of these three scenarios on the stability of Nicholson – Bailey type models. I show that in general, non‐synchronizing parasitoids can potentially have a strong de‐stabilizing influence on parasitoid‐host dynamics.