Nutrient uptake and allocation capacity during immature development determine reproductive capacity in Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Opiinae), a parasitoid of tephritid flies

Publication date: Available online 6 May 2016 Source:Biological Control Author(s): Alejandro Martínez-Ramírez, Lizette Cicero, Larissa Guillén, John Sivinski, Martín Aluja Fitness in parasitoids is generally influenced by host quality. We measured the effects of three tephritid host species that varied in size, the fruits they developed in, and host nutritional content on some measures of fitness such as egg load, individual egg size, body size, and nutrient composition in the braconid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, a widely used fruit fly biological control agent. The host species were: Anastrepha ludens (large host developing in both grapefruit and an artificial diet), A. obliqua (small host) and A. serpentina (small host). Female parasitoid body size was influenced by host size and the number of eggs per female varied significantly with parasitoid age (0 – 24 h. Female parasitoids that emerged from A. obliqua and those that emerged from A. ludens reared in grapefruit had the largest eggs, whereas those that emerged from A. ludens reared in artificial diet and from A. serpentina had the smallest eggs. While nutrient concentrations differed among fly species, there was little to suggest that resources were more accessible in certain hosts. The largest host did not necessarily exhibit the highest nutrient concentration. Larger hosts represented larger macronutrient pools and the nutrient content of the host generally corresponded to the relative abundance o...
Source: Biological Control - Category: Biology Source Type: research