Present address: Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp 230 53, Sweden.
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Patch time allocation in male parasitoids
Article first published online: 21 MAY 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.01011.x
© 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 The Royal Entomological Society
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How to Cite
MARTEL, V., WAJNBERG, E. and BOIVIN, G. (2008), Patch time allocation in male parasitoids. Ecological Entomology, 33: 608–613. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.01011.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 3 SEP 2008
- Article first published online: 21 MAY 2008
- Accepted 27 February 2008First published online 21 May 2008
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Keywords:
- Hymenoptera;
- marginal value theorem;
- optimal foraging;
- patch leaving decision;
- reproductive strategies;
- Trichogramma turkestanica
Abstract 1. Patch time allocation has been mostly studied in female parasitoids exploiting patches of hosts. Different parameters such as oviposition, host encounters, patch quality, etc. have been repeatedly shown to modify the time females invest on hosts.
2. Male parasitoids are expected to maximise their lifetime fitness by maximising the number of females inseminated during their life. Because they can be sperm and/or time limited, they should optimise their time allocation on emergence patches.
3. Patch time allocation thus appears to be an important question for both male and female parasitoids.
4. In this study, we determined the parameters used by males of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma turkestanica to decide when to leave the emergence patch. Among the different patch-leaving parameters tested, only contacts with parasitised hosts and presence of virgin females significantly influenced the patch-leaving tendency.
5. Our results suggest that males express behaviours that could enable them to optimise their patch exploitation time, as females do, but using different strategies.