Monday, 18 November 2002 - 10:36 AM
0350

This presentation is part of : Ten-Minute Papers, Subsection Cd. Behavior and Ecology (Session 3)

Post-emergence experience impacts fitness of the insect parasitoid, Cotesia congregata (Say) [Hymenoptera: Braconidae]

Amanda J. Lentz and Karen M. Kester. Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Biology, Life Sciences Building, 1000 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA

Although learning is hypothesized to improve fitness, the direct effects of experience on ovipositional decision-making have not been tested. We investigated the effects of post-emergence experience with host or novel plants on clutch size and sex ratio allocation by Cotesia congregata (Say). Wasps that emerged on one of two host plants produced clutches with a higher proportion of females when offered the same plant at oviposition. Wasps that emerged on one of two novel plants oviposited larger clutches in the presence of a relatively unattractive novel plant, irrespective of post-emergence experience, and produced clutches with higher proportions of females on either plant than wasps with no plant experience. Differential effects of post-emergence experience on clutch size and sex ratios may reflect prior adaptation to host plants and facilitate local adaptation to plants utilized by abundant hosts.



Species 1: Hymenoptera Braconidae Cotesia congregata
Species 2: Lepidoptera Sphingidae Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm)
Keywords: learning, sex ratios

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