Earth and Life Institue, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
CNRS, Biogéosciences UMR 6282, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.
Insect Sci. 2019 Oct;26(5):923-931. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12583. Epub 2018 Apr 17.
Insect parasitoids developing inside hosts face a true challenge: hosts are scattered in the field and their localization and selection require the use of complex and sometime confusing information. It was assumed for a long time that small-brained organisms like parasitoids have evolved simple and efficient behavioral mechanisms, leading them to be adapted to a given ecological situation, for example, the spatial distribution of hosts in the habitat. However, hosts are not static and their distribution may also vary through generations and within the life of parasitoid individuals. We investigated if and how parasitoids deal with such a spatial complexity in a mesocosm experiment. We used the Aphidius rhopalosiphi/Sitobion avenae parasitoid/host system to investigate if parasitoid females experiencing different host aggregation levels exhibit different foraging behaviors independently of the number of hosts in the environment. We showed that A. rhopalosiphi females exploited hosts more intensively both within and among patches at higher host aggregation levels. We discussed the adaptiveness of such behaviors in the light of evolution and biological control.
宿主在野外分散，它们的定位和选择需要使用复杂且有时令人困惑的信息。长期以来，人们一直认为像寄生蜂这样的小脑袋生物已经进化出了简单而高效的行为机制，使它们适应特定的生态环境，例如宿主在栖息地中的空间分布。然而，宿主并不是静态的，它们的分布也可能随世代和寄生蜂个体的生命而变化。我们在一个中观实验中调查了寄生蜂是否以及如何应对这种空间复杂性。我们使用了桃蚜茧蜂/麦长管蚜寄生蜂/宿主系统，以调查在不同的宿主聚集水平下，经历不同宿主聚集水平的寄生蜂雌性是否会表现出不同的觅食行为，而不考虑环境中宿主的数量。我们发现，在更高的宿主聚集水平下，桃蚜茧蜂雌性在单个和多个斑块内更密集地利用宿主。我们根据进化和生物防治的角度讨论了这种行为的适应性。
