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The effect of variability on host feeding and reproductive success in parasitoids

  • Behavioural Ecology
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Abstract

We model the behaviour of a solitary parasitoid that can either eat a host or lay an egg on it. When the parasitoid does not die as a result of starvation, it should always lay an egg on a host. We compute the parasitoid's lifetime reproductive success in this case, and illustrate the effects of the mean time to find hosts and the variance in this time. We then develop a state-dependent model in which the decision to eat the host or lay an egg on it depend on the parasitoid's state. This model is used to explore the effects of variability in the time to find hosts on the parasitoid's lifetime reproductive success. It is shown that there can be a non-monotonic relationship between reproductive success and variability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NERC Unit of Behavioural Ecology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3PS, Oxford, U.K.

    A. I. Houston

  2. School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, BS8 1TW, Bristol, U.K.

    J. M. McNamara

  3. Department of Biology and NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, SL5 7PY, Ascot, Berks, U.K.

    H. C. J. Godfray

Authors
  1. A. I. Houston
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  2. J. M. McNamara
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  3. H. C. J. Godfray
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Houston, A.I., McNamara, J.M. & Godfray, H.C.J. The effect of variability on host feeding and reproductive success in parasitoids. Bltn Mathcal Biology 54, 465–476 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464844

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464844

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