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Updated: May 1, 2026

An Introduction to Parasitic Wasps of Drosophila and the Antiparasite Immune Response
Published on: May 7, 2012
Effects of Intraspecific Competition and Host-Parasitoid Developmental Timing on Foraging Behaviour of a Parasitoid
Christelle Couchoux1, Saskya van Nouhuys2
1Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, Viikinkaari 1, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Abstract:
In a context where hosts are distributed in patches and susceptible to parasitism for a limited time, female parasitoids foraging for hosts might experience intraspecific competition. We investigated the effects of host and parasitoid developmental stage and intraspecific competition among foraging females on host-searching behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Hyposoter horticola. We found that H. horticola females have a pre-reproductive adult stage during which their eggs are not mature yet and they forage very little for hosts. The wasps foraged for hosts more once they were mature. Behavioural experiments showed that wasps' foraging activity also increased as host eggs aged and became susceptible to parasitism, and as competition among foraging wasps increased.
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