Influence of host size on the clutch size and developmental success of the gregarious ectoparasitoid Eulophus pennicornis (Nees)(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) attacking larvae of the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

SUMMARY The relationship between clutch size, host size and progeny survival in the gregarious ectoparasitoid Eulophus pennicornis was investigated in a number of scenarios. When naive parasitoids were exposed singly to Lacanobia oleracea hosts, clutch size was strongly correlated with the size of the host. However, survival of parasitoid offspring was negatively affected by the size of the host such that, in larger hosts, greater wasp larval and pupal mortality was recorded. As a result, no gain in realised fecundity was achieved through parasitizing L. oleracea larvae of mass >0.4 g over hosts of mass between 0.2–0.3 g. When exposed to populations of mixed stadium hosts (larvae in the fourth, fifth and sixth instars) during the entire lifespan of the wasp, host size and clutch size were correlated in early ovipositions (first three ovipositions). However, as the wasps aged, the relationship was much less apparent. When the parasitoid was restricted to foraging upon populations of sixth instar hosts only, no relationship between host size and clutch size was apparent. Exposure of the parasitoid to mixed and fixed stadium host populations showed that final(sixth) stadium hosts were the most frequently parasitized (ca. 96% of parasitized hosts) and that the average numbers of eggs laid per wasp, and the number of hosts parasitized, was significantly lower when the parasitoid was provided with fourth or fifth instar hosts only. The results indicate that the reproductive success of E. pennicornis does not increase with increasing host size or greater resource availability above a certain threshold, and that the physiological status of the host at the time of parasitism is the governing factor determining oviposition decisions and parasitoid survival. We conclude that E. pennicornis has been selected to preferentially utilize those hosts that maximize progeny survival and to adapt clutch size to the size of such hosts. We hypothesize that the major driver leading to the evolution of this strategy is the ability of the parasitoid to physiologically regulate the host.