Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Postemergence Experience Affects Sex Ratio Allocation in a Gregarious Insect Parasitoid

Postemergence Experience Affects Sex Ratio Allocation in a Gregarious Insect Parasitoid We tested the hypotheses that postemergence experience with plants (“early adult learning”) modifies sex ratio and clutch size allocations of Cotesia congregata (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a gregarious larval endoparasitoid of Manduca sexta L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Emerging wasps were exposed for 2–3 h to (a) one of two host plants (tomato or tobacco) or no plant, and (b) one of two novel plants (arugula or parsley) or no plant. Each female was permitted a single oviposition in a host offered with one of the two plant species 24 h later. Hosts were reared on laboratory diet before and after parasitization. Wasps exposed to either host plant allocated proportionately more females to hosts offered with the plant species experienced at emergence than wasps with the alternate species, but clutch sizes did not differ. Irrespective of plant species, wasps exposed to novel plants allocated proportionately more females to hosts than wasps without plant experience, and larger clutches to hosts offered with parsley than with arugula. Differential responses to host and novel plants suggest inherent recognition of host foodplants by C. congregata. Results demonstrate a direct effect of learning on reproductive potential. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Insect Behavior Springer Journals

Postemergence Experience Affects Sex Ratio Allocation in a Gregarious Insect Parasitoid

Journal of Insect Behavior , Volume 21 (1) – Oct 26, 2007

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/postemergence-experience-affects-sex-ratio-allocation-in-a-gregarious-jMsW8085kd

References (40)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Subject
Life Sciences; Entomology; Behavioral Sciences; Neurobiology; Agriculture; Animal Ecology; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0892-7553
eISSN
1572-8889
DOI
10.1007/s10905-007-9102-3
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

We tested the hypotheses that postemergence experience with plants (“early adult learning”) modifies sex ratio and clutch size allocations of Cotesia congregata (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a gregarious larval endoparasitoid of Manduca sexta L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Emerging wasps were exposed for 2–3 h to (a) one of two host plants (tomato or tobacco) or no plant, and (b) one of two novel plants (arugula or parsley) or no plant. Each female was permitted a single oviposition in a host offered with one of the two plant species 24 h later. Hosts were reared on laboratory diet before and after parasitization. Wasps exposed to either host plant allocated proportionately more females to hosts offered with the plant species experienced at emergence than wasps with the alternate species, but clutch sizes did not differ. Irrespective of plant species, wasps exposed to novel plants allocated proportionately more females to hosts than wasps without plant experience, and larger clutches to hosts offered with parsley than with arugula. Differential responses to host and novel plants suggest inherent recognition of host foodplants by C. congregata. Results demonstrate a direct effect of learning on reproductive potential.

Journal

Journal of Insect BehaviorSpringer Journals

Published: Oct 26, 2007

There are no references for this article.