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Population dynamics of two hymenopteran parasites of the yew gall midge Taxomyia taxi (Inchbald)
Author(s) -
CAMERON R. A. D.,
REDFERN M.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1978.tb00927.x
Subject(s) - biology , gall , parasitism , midge , population density , parasitoid , population , zoology , foraging , hymenoptera , ecology , host (biology) , demography , sociology
. 1. The densities of the hymenopteran parasites Torymus nigritarsus and Mesopolobus diffinis are determined mainly by the density of available hosts, Taxomyia taxi. 2. Area of discovery of T.nigritarsus is negatively related both to density of available hosts and to the density of searching parasites. Implications for the foraging strategy of T.nigritarsus are discussed. 3. Mesopolobus diffinis preferentially parasitizes hosts in the small 1‐year galls. This and other evidence suggests that not all galls are equally available for parasitism.