Journal of Insect Behavior (2009) 22, 501-510

Michal Segoli, Ally R. Harari, Amos Bouskila and Tamar Keasar (2009)
Host handling time in a polyembryonic wasp is affected both by previous experience and by host state
Journal of Insect Behavior 22 (6), 501-510
Abstract: Foraging behavior for hosts in parasitoids resembles that of predators with respect to finding, evaluating and manipulating of the prey. Host handling time may depend on the life history of the parasitoid and can be affected by oviposition experience. Additionally, handling time can be affected by host aggregation, species, size and state (parasitized or not). We studied handling times in the egg-larval parasitoid wasp Copidosoma koehleri. We allowed naïve female wasps to oviposit into three consecutive unparasitized hosts, and measured time until oviposition, and the duration of ovipositor insertion. We recorded the same data for naïve females ovipositing into already parasitized hosts. We found that both previous experience by females and previous parasitism of hosts reduced handling time. The results suggest that host handling durations reflect the interplay between host state and parasitoid internal state.
(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, Ally Rachel Harari

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.
Copidosoma koehleri (parasitoid)