Abstract
The host preferences and sex ratios ofMesochorus biotypes from Sweden and Colorado (U.S.A.) were studied in the field and laboratory. TheseMesochorus are secondary parasites ofBathyplectes spp., parasites ofHypera postica (Gyllenhal). The Colorado biotype is 100% thelytokous, and clearly prefersBathyplectes stenostigma (Thomson) as a host. Only an arrhenotokous biotype was positively detected in Sweden, and it appeared to preferB. curculionis (Thomson). However, some of the data suggest that the thelytokous biotype was probably also present in Sweden, at least inB. stenostigma. The behavioral differences and reproductive isolation of the thelytokous and arrhenotokous biotypes indicate that they are separate sibling species, even though they cannot yet be separated morphologically, and isozyme analyses were inconclusive (possibly due to a mixture of biotypes in Sweden).
Résumé
Des biotypes suédois et du Colorado (USA) deMesochorus furent étudiés sur le terrain et au laboratoire pour déterminer leurs hôtes préférentiels et les rapports des sexes. CesMesochorus sont les parasites secondaires deBathyplectes spp., parasites desHypera postica (Gyllenhal). Le biotype du Colorado est 100% thélytoque et son hôte de prédilection estBathyplectes stenostigma (Thomson). En Suède, nous n'avons trouvé qu'un biotype arrhénotoque qui semble préférerB. curculionis (Thomson). Toutefois, certaines de nos données suggèrent que le biotype thélytoque était aussi présent en Suède, tout au moins dansB. stenostigma. Les différences comportementales et l'isolement de biotypes à reproduction thélytoque et arrhénotoque indiquent qu'ils représentent des espèces fraternelles distinctes, même si elles ne sont pas morphologiquement différentes. L'analyse des isoenzymes n'a pas été concluante, probablement à cause du mélange des biotypes en Suède.
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Day, W.H., Hedlund, R.C. Biological comparisons between arrhenotokous and thelytokous biotypes ofMesochorus nigripes [Hym.: Ichneumonidae] . Entomophaga 33, 201–210 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02372655
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02372655