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Patch Time Allocation by a Parasitoid: The Influence of Con-specifics, Host Abundance and Distance to the Patch

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Abstract

Patch residence time is at the core of models of decision making by foragers living in patchy environments. We studied patch residence time (PRT) of Ibalia leucospoides, a parasitoid of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, as assigned to 4 treatments (recent feeding and/or oviposition experience) foraging in an array of host-infested pine logs. We tested the effects of distance from release point, host abundance, and the number of con-specifics at the time of arrival, on patch (pine log) residence time. PRT depended on a combination of patch quality (number of hosts in a log) and distance from the release point. Neither the presence of con-specifics on the patch, prior exposure to hosts, nor feeding prior to the experiment affected the time spent on a patch. We conclude that PRT in I. leucospoides meets Marginal Value Theorem predictions qualitatively, overruling the effects recent oviposition experience, access to food and contact with conspecifics. These findings are in line with the reported pro-ovigeny in I. leucospoides as well as the strong spatial aggregation of hosts in the field.

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out within the Finland-Argentina Research exchange program Grant FI/A03/B01. We also acknowledge financial support from ANPCyT, Argentina (PICT 0-1200/06) and PICS 4144 (CNRS) and The Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence program (grant no. 20286). E. Desouhant and D. Fischbein provided significant advice on the experiments and data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CONICET—Laboratorio de Ecología de Insectos—INTA Bariloche, 8400, Bariloche, Argentina

    Juan C. Corley & José M. Villacide

  2. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 65, Helsinki, FIN-00014, Finland

    Saskya van Nouhuys

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  1. Juan C. Corley
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  2. José M. Villacide
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  3. Saskya van Nouhuys
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Correspondence to Juan C. Corley.

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Corley, J.C., Villacide, J.M. & van Nouhuys, S. Patch Time Allocation by a Parasitoid: The Influence of Con-specifics, Host Abundance and Distance to the Patch. J Insect Behav 23, 431–440 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-010-9226-8

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