Journal of Insect Behavior (2010) 23, 431-440

Juan C. Corley, José M. Villacide and Saskya van Nouhuys (2010)
Patch time allocation by a parasitoid: The Influence of con-specifics, host abundance and distance to the patch
Journal of Insect Behavior 23 (6), 431-440
Abstract: Patch residence time is at the core of models of decision making by foragers living in patchy environments. We studied patch residence time (PRT) of Ibalia leucospoides, a parasitoid of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, as assigned to 4 treatments (recent feeding and/or oviposition experience) foraging in an array of host-infested pine logs. We tested the effects of distance from release point, host abundance, and the number of con-specifics at the time of arrival, on patch (pine log) residence time. PRT depended on a combination of patch quality (number of hosts in a log) and distance from the release point. Neither the presence of con-specifics on the patch, prior exposure to hosts, nor feeding prior to the experiment affected the time spent on a patch. We conclude that PRT in I. leucospoides meets Marginal Value Theorem predictions qualitatively, overruling the effects recent oviposition experience, access to food and contact with conspecifics. These findings are in line with the reported pro-ovigeny in I. leucospoides as well as the strong spatial aggregation of hosts in the field.
(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): Juan Carlos Corley, José M. Villacide

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.
	Sirex noctilio	Pine (Pinus)
Ibalia leucospoides (parasitoid)	Sirex noctilio	Pine (Pinus)