Manduca sexta caterpillars parasitized by the wasp Cotesia congregata stop chewing despite an intact motor system

The parasitic wasp Cotesia congregata suppresses feeding in its host, the caterpillar Manduca sexta, during specific periods of wasp development. We examined both feeding behaviour and the neurophysiology of the mandibular closer muscle in parasitized and unparasitized control M. sexta to determine how the wasp may accomplish this. To test whether the wasps activated a pre-existing host mechanism for feeding cessation, we examined the microstructure of feeding behaviour in caterpillars that stopped feeding due to illness-induced anorexia or an impending moult. These microstructures were compared with that shown by parasitized caterpillars. While there were overall differences between parasitized and unparasitized caterpillars, the groups showed similar progression in feeding microstructure as feeding ended, suggesting a common pattern for terminating a meal. Parasitized caterpillars also consumed less leaf area in 100 bites than control caterpillars at around the same time their feeding microstructure changed. The decline in food consumption was accompanied by fewer spikes per burst and shorter burst durations in chewing muscle electromyograms. Similar extracellular results were obtained from the motorneuron of the mandibular closer muscle. However, chewing was dramatically re-activated in non-feeding parasitized caterpillars if the connectives posterior to the suboesophageal ganglion were severed. The same result was observed in unparasitized caterpillars given the same treatment. Our results suggest that the reduced feeding in parasitized caterpillars is not due to damage to the central pattern generator (CPG) for chewing, motor nerves or chewing muscles, but is more likely to be due to a suppression of chewing CPG activity by ascending or descending inputs.