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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barbosa P, Saunders JA, Kemper J, Trumbule R, Olechno J, Martinat P (1986) Plant allelochemicals and insect parasitoids: effects of nicotine on Cotesia congregata (Say) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) and Hyposoter annulipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). J Chem Ecol 12:1319–1328
Barbosa P, Gross P, Kemper J (1991) Influence of plant allelochemicals on the tobacco hornworm and its parasitoid Cotesia congregata. Ecology 72:1567–1575
Benrey B, Denno RF (1997) The slow-growth-high-mortality hypothesis: a test using the cabbage butterfly. Ecology 78:987–999
Charnov EL (1982) The theory of sex allocation. Princeton University Press, 355 pp
Cortesero AM, Monge JP (1994) Influence of pre-emergence experience on response to host and host plant odours in the larval parasitoid Eupelmus vuilleti. Entomol Exper Appl 72:281–288
Dukas R, Duan JJ (2000) Fitness consequences of associative learning in a parasitoid wasp. Behav Ecol 11:536–543
Fox L, Kester KM, Eisenbach J (1996) Direct and indirect responses of parasitoids to plants: sex ratio, plant quality and herbivore diet breadth. Entomol Exper Appl 80:289–292
Gandolfi M, Mattiacci L, Dorn S (2003) Preimaginal learning determines adult response to chemical stimuli in a parasitic wasp. Proc Roy Soc Lon Series B-Biol Scien 270:2623–2629
Godfray HCJ (1994) Parasitoids: behavioral and evolutionary ecology. Princeton University Press, pp 99–211, 151–210
Hodges RW (1971) The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fasc. 21, Sphingoidea. E.W. Classey, Middlesex, 158 pp
Jensen MK, Kester KM, Kankaare M, Brown BL (2002) Characterization of microsatellite loci in the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say). Mol Ecol Notes 2:346–348
Kester KM (1991) Behavioral and ecological constraints imposed by plants on the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say). Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, 287 pp
Kester KM, Barbosa P (1991a) Postemergence learning in the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say). (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). J Insect Behav 4:727–741
Kester KM, Barbosa P (1991b) Behavioral and ecological constraints imposed by plants on insect parasitoids: implications for biological control. Biol Cont 1:94–106
Kester KM, Barbosa P (1992) Effects of post-emergence experience on searching and landing responses to plants in the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say). J Insect Behav 5:301–319
Kester KM, Barbosa P (1994) Behavioral responses to host foodplants of two populations of the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say). Oecologia 99:151–157
King BH (1987) Offspring sex ratios in parasitoid wasps. Quar Rev Biol 62:367–396
Morris RJ, Fellowes MDE (2002) Learning and natal host influence host preference, handling time and sex allocation behaviour in a pupal parasitoid. Behav Ecol Socio 51:386–393
Ode P, Rosenheim J (1998) Sex allocation and the evolutionary transition between solitary and gregarious parasitoid development. Amer Natur 152:757–761
Ott RL (1993) An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis, 4th edn. Wadsworth, Inc., Belmont, pp 181–182
Papaj DR, Prokopy RJ (1989) Ecological and evolutionary aspects of learning in phytophagous insects. Ann Rev Entomol 34:315–350
Rosenheim JA, Rosen D (1991) Foraging and oviposition decisions in the parasitoid Aphytis lingnanensis: distinguishing the influences of egg load and experience. J Anim Ecol 60:873–893
SAS Institute (1990). Statistical analysis systems, version 6.0, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary N.C.
Smith BH (1993) Merging mechanisms and adaptations: an ethological approach to learning and generalization. In: Papaj DR, Lewis AC (eds) Insect learning: ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Chapman and Hall, NY, pp 126–153
Tagawa J, Kitano H (1981) Mating behaviour of the braconid wasp, Apanteles glomeratus L. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), in the field. Appl Entomol Zool 16:345–350
Thorpe KW, Barbosa P (1986) Effects of consumption of high and low nicotine tobacco by Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) on survival of gregarious endoparasitoid Cotesia congregata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). J Chem Ecol 12:1329–1337
Tietz HM (1972) An index to the described life histories, early stages and hosts of the macrolepidoptera of the continental United States and Canada. Allyn Museum, Sarasota, 1041 pp
Turlings T, Wäckers F, Vet LEM, Lewis WJ, Tumlinson JH (1993) Learning of host-finding cues by hymenopterous parasitoids. In: Papaj D, Lewis AC (eds) Insect learning: ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp 51–78
Turlings T, Loughrin JH, McCall PJ, Rose USR, Lewis WJ, Tumlinson JH (1995) How caterpillar-damaged plants protect themselves by attracting parasitic wasps. Proc Nat’l Acad Scien USA 92:4169–4174
Vet LEM (1983) Host–habitat location through olfactory cues by Leptopilina calvipes (Hartig) (Hym, Eucolidae), a parasitoid of fungivorous Drosophila—the influence of conditioning. Neth J Zool 33:225–248
Vet LEM, Dicke M (1992) Ecology of infochemical use by natural enemies in a tritrophic context. Ann Rev Entomol 3:141–172
Vet LEM, Lewis WJ, Papaj DR, van Lenteren JC (1990) A variable-response model for parasitoid foraging behaviour. J Insect Behav 3:471–490
Vinson SB (1976) Host selection by insect parasitoids. Ann Rev Entomol 21:109–133
Waage JK (1986) Family planning in parasitoids: adaptive patterns of progeny and sex allocation. In: Waage JK, Greathead D (eds) Insect parasitoids. Academic, London, pp 63–65
Wäckers FL, Lewis WJ (1994) Olfactory and visual learning and their combined influence on host site location by the parasitoid Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) Biol Cont 4:105–112
Acknowledgements
We thank S. Wilkinson and L. Gray for assistance with insect rearing, and M. Fine and B. Brown for comments on the manuscript. This work was funded, in part, by NSF Grant #DBI-9796334 to K.M. Kester and H.R. Royaltey.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lentz, A.J., Kester, K.M. Postemergence Experience Affects Sex Ratio Allocation in a Gregarious Insect Parasitoid. J Insect Behav 21, 34–45 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-007-9102-3
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-007-9102-3