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Small-scale spatial resource partitioning in a hyperparasitoid community

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Abstract

Plant-herbivore-natural enemy associations underpin ecological communities, and such interactions may go up to four (or even more) trophic levels. Here, over the course of a growing season, we compared the diversity of secondary hyperparasitoids associated with a common host, Cotesia glomerata, a specialized larval endoparasitoid of cabbage butterfly caterpillars that in turn feed on brassicaceous plants. Cocoon clusters of C. glomerata were pinned to ~30 Brassica nigra plants by pinning them either to branches in the canopy (~1.5 m high) or to the base of the stem near the ground. The cocoons were collected a week later and reared to determine which hyperparasitoid species emerged from them. This was done in four consecutive months (June–September). Cocoons placed in the canopy were primarily attacked by specialized winged hyperparasitoids (Lysibia nana, Acrolyta nens), whereas cocoons on the ground were attacked by both winged and generalist wingless hyperparasitoids (Gelis acarorum, G. agilis), although this changed with season. There was much more temporal variation in the diversity and number of species attacking cocoons in the canopy than on the ground; the abundance of L. nana and A. nens varied from month to month, whereas P. semotus was only prevalent in August. By contrast, G. acarorum was abundant in all of the samples placed near the ground. Our results show that hyperparasitoids partition host resources at remarkably small vertical spatial scales. We argue that spatial differences in the distribution of natural enemies can contribute to the diversity patterns observed in the field.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Rieta Gols for reading an early draft of the manuscript and Roel Wagenaar for constantly supplying cocoons of Cotesia glomerata. Ashes of Ares and Wolfen provided much needed musical support during long experimental days. Photographs of all hyperparasitoids were taken by Tibor Bukovinszky except for Pteromalus semotus, which was taken by Alex Gumovsky. Mark Shaw and Martin Schwarz identified the hyperparasitoids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6700 EH, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Jeffrey A. Harvey, Helen Snaas, Miriama Malcicka, Bertanne Visser & T. Martijn Bezemer

  2. Department of Ecological Sciences, Section Animal Ecology, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jeffrey A. Harvey & Miriama Malcicka

  3. Ecology of Multitrophic Systems Research Team, Functional Ecology Group, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte (IRBI) UMR 7261 CNRS, Université François-Rabelais, Avenue Monge, Parc Grandmont, 37200, Tours, France

    Bertanne Visser

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  1. Jeffrey A. Harvey
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  2. Helen Snaas
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  3. Miriama Malcicka
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  4. Bertanne Visser
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  5. T. Martijn Bezemer
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Correspondence to Jeffrey A. Harvey.

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Harvey, J.A., Snaas, H., Malcicka, M. et al. Small-scale spatial resource partitioning in a hyperparasitoid community. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 8, 393–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-014-9319-y

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