Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2001) 98, 123-132

Tamar Keasar, Muriel Ney-Nifle, Marc Mangel and Sean Swezey (2001)
Early oviposition experience affects patch residence time in a foraging parasitoid
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 98 (2), 123-132
Abstract: Parasitoids learn olfactory and visual cues that are associated with their hosts, and use these cues to forage more efficiently. Classical conditioning theory predicts that encounters with high-quality hosts will lead to better learning of host-associated cues than encounters with low-quality hosts. We tested this prediction in a two-phase laboratory experiment with the parasitoid Trichogramma thalense Pinto and Oatman (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and the host Anagasta kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
Host quality during the first exposure to hosts affected later foraging behavior for some experimental treatments, as predicted. We used a learning model, followed by patch-time optimization, to interpret our findings. We first simulated the parasitoids' host encounters during the experiment, and predicted their estimate of patch quality after each encounter. We then used dynamic optimization to predict the parasitoids' optimal patch residence times. The model reproduces the trends of the experimental results.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Tamar Keasar

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ephestia kuehniella
Trichogramma thalense (parasitoid)	Ephestia kuehniella