Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Testing competing measures of profitability for mobile resources

  • Behavioral Ecology - Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Optimal diet theory often fails to predict a forager’s diet choice when prey are mobile. Because they escape or defend themselves, mobile prey are likely to increase the forager’s handling time, thereby decreasing its fitness gain rate. Many animals have been shown to select their prey so as to maximize either their fitness gain or their fitness gain rate. However, no study has yet compared directly these two measures of profitability by generating testable predictions about the choice of the forager. Under laboratory conditions, we compared these two measures of profitability, using the aphid parasitoid Aphidius colemani and its host, Myzus persicae. Fitness gain was calculated for parasitoids developing in each host instar by measuring life-history traits such as developmental time, sex ratio and fecundity. Fitness gain rate was estimated by dividing fitness gain by handling time, the time required to subdue the host. Fourth instar aphids provided the best fitness gain to parasitoids, whereas second instar aphids were the most profitable in terms of fitness gain rate. Host choice tests showed that A. colemani females preferred second instar hosts, suggesting that their decision maximizes fitness gain rate over fitness gain. Our results indicate that fitness gain rate is a reliable predictor of animal’s choice for foragers exploiting resources that impose additional time cost due to their mobility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akaike H (1974) A new look at the statistical model identification. IEEE Trans Automat Cont 19:716–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson DR, Burnham KP (2002) Avoiding pitfalls when using information-theoretic methods. J Wildl Manage 66:912–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benrey B, Denno RF (1997) The slow-growth-high-mortality hypothesis: a test using the cabbage butterfly. Ecology 78:987–999

    Google Scholar 

  • Boivin G, Fauvergue X, Wajnberg E (2004) Optimal patch residence time in egg parasitoids: innate versus learned estimate of patch quality. Oecologia 138:640–647

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boivin G, Jacob S, Damiens D (2005) Spermatogeny as a life-history index in parasitoid wasps. Oecologia 143:198–202

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brodeur J, Geervliet JBF, Vet LEM (1996) The role of host species, age and defensive behaviour on ovipositional decisions in a solitary specialist and gregarious generalist parasitoid (Cotesia species). Entomol Exp Appl 81:125–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodeur J, Boivin G (2004) Functional ecology of immature parasitoids. Annu Rev Entomol 49:27–49

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buitenhuis R, Boivin G, Vet LEM, Brodeur J (2004) Preference and performance of the hyperparasitoid Syrphophagus aphidivorus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae): fitness consequences of selecting hosts in live aphids or aphid mummies. Ecol Entomol 296:648–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chau A, Mackauer M (2001) Host-instar selection in the aphid parasitoid Monoctonus paulensis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Aphidiinae): assessing costs and benefits. Can Entomol 133:549–564

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloutier C, Duperron J, Tertuliano M, McNeil JN (2000) Host instar, body size and fitness in the koinobiotic parasitoid Aphidius nigripes. Entomol Exp Appl 97:29–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colinet H, Salin C, Boivin G, Hance T (2005) Host age and fitness-related traits in a koinobiont aphid parasitoid. Ecol Entomol 30:473–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowie RJ (1977) Optimal foraging in great tits. Nature 268:137–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damiens D, Boivin G (2006) Why do sperm-depleted parasitoid males continue to mate? Behav Ecol 17:138–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggleton P, Gaston KJ (1990) “Parasitoid” species and assemblages: convenient definitions or misleading compromises? Oikos 59:417–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill AB, Hart PJB (1994) Feeding behaviour and prey choice of the threespine stickleback: the interacting effects of prey size, fish size and stomach fullness. Anim Behav 47:921–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gils JA, van Schenk IW, Bos O, Piersma T (2003) Incompletely informed shorebirds that face a digestive constraint maximize net energy gain when exploiting patches. Am Nat 161:777–793

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Godfray HCJ (1994) Parasitoids behavioral and evolutionary ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Godfray HCJ, Shimada M (1999) Parasitoids: a model system to answer questions in behavioral, evolutionary and population ecology. Res Popul Ecol 41:3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths D (1980a) The feeding biology of Ant-lion (Morter obscurus) larvae: prey capture handling and utilization. J Anim Ecol 49:99–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths D (1980b) Foraging costs and relative prey size. Am Nat 116:743–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey JA, Harvey IF, Thompson DJ (1994) Flexible larval growth allows use of a range of host sizes by a parasitoid wasp. Ecology 75:1420–1428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA (1982) Energy maximizers and time minimizers: theory and reality. Am Nat 119:596–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofsvang T, Hågvar EB (1975a) Duration of development and longevity in Aphidius ervi and Aphidius platensis (Hym.: Aphidiidae), two parasites of Myzus persicae (Hom.: Aphididae). Entomophaga 20:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofsvang T, Hågvar EB (1975b) Fecundity and oviposition period of Aphidius platensis Brèthes (Hym., Aphidiidae) parasitizing Myzus persicae Sulz. (Hom., Aphididae) on paprika. Norw J Entomol 22:113–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofsvang T, Hågvar EB (1986) Oviposition behaviour of Ephedrus cerasicola (Hym.: Aphidiidae) parasitizing different instars of its aphid host. Entomophaga 31:261–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kacelnik A (1984) Central place foraging in starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). I. Patch residence time. J Anim Ecol 53:283–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kouamé KL, Mackauer M (1991) Influence of aphid size, age and behaviour on host choice by the parasitoid wasp Ephedrus californicus: a test of host-size models. Oecologia 88:197–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemon WC (1991) Fitness consequences of foraging behaviour in the zebra finch. Nature 352:153–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackauer M, Sequeira R (1993) Patterns of development in insect parasites. In: Beckage NE, Thompson SN, Federici BA (eds) Parasites and pathogens of insects. Vol 1: parasite. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Martel V, Wajnberg E, Boivin G (2008) Patch time allocation in male parasitoids. Ecol Entomol 33:608–613

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierre JS, van Baaren J, Boivin G (2003) Patch leaving decision rules in parasitoids: do they use sequential decisional sampling? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54:147–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Qayyum A (2001) Effects of host age on two closely related parasitoid species Diaeretiella rapae (McIntosh) and Aphidius colemani (Viereck) (Aphidiidae: Hymenoptera). Pak J Zool 33:193–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Roitberg BD, Boivin G, Vet LEM (2001) Fitness, parasitoids, and biological control: an opinion. Can Entomol 133:429–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenheim JA (1999) The relative contributions of time and eggs to the cost of reproduction. Evolution 53:376–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rovero F, Hughes RN, Chelazzi G (2000) When time is of the essence: choosing a currency for prey-handling costs. J Anim Ecol 69:683–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoener TW (1971) Theory of feeding strategies. Annu Rev Ecol System 2:369–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Seventer JG, Ellers J, Driessen G (1998) An evolutionary argument for time limitation. Evolution 52:1241–1244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A, Christensen B (2001) Optimal diet theory: when does it work, and when and why does it fail? Anim Behav 61:379–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starý P (1975) Aphidius colemani Viereck: its taxonomy, distribution and host range (Hymenoptera, Aphidiidae). Acta Entomologia Bohemoslovaca 72:156–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens DW, Krebs JR (1986) Foraging theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Valone TJ (1992) Patch estimation via memory windows and the effect of travel time. J Theor Biol 157:243–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villagra CA, Ramirez CC, Niemeyer HM (2002) Antipredator responses of aphids to parasitoids change as a function of aphid physiological state. Anim Behav 64:677–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wajnberg E, Fauvergue X, Pons O (2000) Patch leaving decision rules and the marginal value theorem: an experimental analysis and a simulation model. Behav Ecol 11:577–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker AL, Hoy MA (2003) Responses of Lipolexis oregmae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) to different instars of Toxoptera citricida (Homoptera: Aphididae). J Econ Entomol 96:1685–1692

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ydenberg RC, Welham CVJ, Schmid-Hempel R, Schmid-Hempel P, Beauchamp G (1994) Time and energy constraints and the relationships between currencies in foraging theory. Behav Ecol 5:28–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study and MB and MW were financially supported by the Biocontrol Network and grants from National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to GB, LAG and JB. MB received additional financial support from a Graduate Scholarship from the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT). We thank M. Fortin for technical assistance and two anonymous referees for their comments on the manuscript. The experiments comply with the current laws of Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 430 blv Gouin, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, J3B 3E6, Canada

    Maryse Barrette, Gi-Mick Wu & Guy Boivin

  2. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 1C0, Canada

    Maryse Barrette, Gi-Mick Wu & Guy Boivin

  3. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montreal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Jacques Brodeur

  4. Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, Succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3P 3P8, Canada

    Luc-Alain Giraldeau

Authors
  1. Maryse Barrette
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gi-Mick Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jacques Brodeur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Luc-Alain Giraldeau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Guy Boivin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maryse Barrette.

Additional information

Communicated by Sven Bacher.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Appendix Table 1 (DOC 78 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Barrette, M., Wu, GM., Brodeur, J. et al. Testing competing measures of profitability for mobile resources. Oecologia 158, 757–764 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1175-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1175-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation