Search results for "Parasitism"
showing 10 items of 200 documents
Dialipsis villahermosaeHumala & Selfa n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), the second European species of the genus, with biological notes and a …
2009
Abstract The small genus Dialipsis Forster 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) includes two known species, of which one is common in Central and Northern Europe. Here we describe the male and female of a new species, Dialipsis villahermosae Humala & Selfa, which was reared from mushrooms collected in Eastern Spain. The host fungus gnat, Mycetophila blanda Winnertz, is a new record for the whole genus, while the rate of parasitism seems very low. Based on environmental data of the collection localities and data available for other two species it is suggested that Dialipsis species occur preferably in cool temperatures habitats. A key of identification of the two known Palaearctic species is pr…
Parasites and Female Ability to Defend Offspring in the Parent Bug Elasmucha grisea L
2010
The specialist endoparasite Subclytia rotundivertis Fallen (Diptera; Tachiniidae) uses the subsocial parent bug Elasmucha grisea L. (Heteroptera; Acanthosomatidae). The parasite injects a single egg through the upper prothorax of female bugs and after hatching the larval parasites eat their host. Parasitism affected only slightly a female's ability to defend her brood when the nymphs were at the second instar stage. However, with third-instar nymphs, parasitized females responded markedly less to disturbance at all levels of their defensive behaviour. Parasitism reduced female survival and significantly increased the probability of death before the end of maternal care. Thus, the main cost …
Larval distributions of the ectoparasitoid waspEurytoma robustarelative to the host tephritid gall flyUrophora cardui
2003
Parasitism may explain the patchy distributions of host populations. The present paper is a study of larval distributions of the parasitoid Eurytoma robusta in galls of the tephritid gall fly Urophora cardui . It focuses on E. robusta ’s choice of U. cardui gall and whether this changes relative to the rate of parasitism. Oviposition patterns were inferred by direct counts of larvae in galls and genetically, for both species, using indirect relatedness estimates between gall-members. Furthermore, rates of parasitism in four populations were monitored for 4 years. The modal distribution of E. robusta larvae per gall was one and independent of the level of parasitism. The mean number of E. ro…
Effect of the juvenile hormone analogue fenoxycarb applied via the host on the parasitoid Phanerotoma (Phanerortoma) ocularis Kohl (Hym. Braconidae)
1993
Abstract Concentrations of 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 μg/ml of fenoxycarb (Ro 13-5223) were applied topically to larvae of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller parasitized by Phanerotoma (Phanerotoma) ocularis Kohl. The effect of the treatment and concentration on parasitism rates, preimaginal mortality and emergence rates of the parasitoid were studied comparatively for each larval instar of the host considered. The preimaginal mortality was high when the fenoxycarb was applied on the first larval instar of the host (23–46%) and more higher when applied to the sixth larval instar of the host (40–86%). Consequently, fenoxycarb treatment of the last larval instar of the host produced a reduction…
Parasitization ofEphestia kuehniellaZeller (Lep., Pyralidae) byPhanerotoma (Phanerotoma) ocularisKohl (Hym., Braconidae)
1993
Laboratory studies of the parasitism by P. (P.) ocularis into E. kuehniella showed that this parasitoid had a great capacity to parasitize the host. Real parasitism rate turned between 84.5% and 100% whereas effective parasitism and adult emergence rate were, comparatively, lower. Superparasitism rate was low (16.57 %). Zusammenfassung Parasitierung von Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lep., Pyralidae) durch Phanerotoma (Phanerotoma) ocularis Kohl (Hym., Braconidae). Parasitismus, Superparasitismus und Schlupfraten Laboruntersuchungen zur Parasitierung von Ephestia kuehniella durch P. (P.) ocularis zeigten, das dieser Parasitoid eine sehr hohe Parasitierungsleistung hat. Die reale Rate lag zwisc…
The effects of parasites on male ornaments and female choice in the lek-breeding black grouse (Tetrao tetrix)
1992
We describe the results of two studies of parasitic infection in the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). The first deals with our own observations of lekking black grouse in which the parasite levels of two blood parasites, the protozoan Leucocytozoon lovati and microfilaria, probably produced by a nematode worm Splendidofilaria tuvensis, were scored. We also obtained measures of age, survival, number of copulations, body mass and length of the ornamental tail feathers (the lyre) of the lekking males. The second study analysed the data from Lund (1954) which involved eight gut parasites obtained from birds which were killed. In the first study we found higher levels of infection of Leucocytozoon …
Data from: A link between heritable parasite resistance and mate choice in dung beetles
2019
Parasites play a central role in the adaptiveness of sexual reproduction. Sexual selection theory suggests a role for parasite resistance in the context of mate choice, but the evidence is mixed. The parasite-mediated sexual selection (PMSS) hypothesis derives a number of predictions, among which that resistance to parasites is heritable, and that female choice favours parasite resistance genes in males. Here we tested the PMSS hypothesis using the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus, a species that can be heavily parasitised by Macrocheles merdarius mites, which are known to affect adult survival. We investigated the heritability of resistance to M. merdarius, as well as whether female O. tauru…
Repeated evolution of soldier sub-castes suggests parasitism drives social complexity in stingless bees
2016
The differentiation of workers into morphological castes represents an important evolutionary innovation that is thought to improve division of labor in insect societies. Given the potential benefits of task-related worker differentiation, it is puzzling that physical worker castes, such as soldiers, are extremely rare in social bees and absent in wasps. Following the recent discovery of soldiers in a stingless bee, we studied the occurrence of worker differentiation in 28 stingless bee species from Brazil and found that several species have specialized soldiers for colony defence. Our results reveal that worker differentiation evolved repeatedly during the last ~ 25 million years and coinc…
Experimental infection of the deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) has no negative effects on the physiology of the captive reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandu…
2011
The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is a haematophagous parasitic fly of cervids that spread to Finland in the early 1960's. Presently its northern distribution limit lies at approximately 65°N and it is gradually spreading northwards. In Finland the principal host species has been the moose (Alces alces), but the deer ked is about to establish contact with another potential host, the semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) causing possible threats to reindeer health and management. The aim of this study was to investigate if the deer ked would have an influence on the welfare of the reindeer. Eighteen adult reindeer were divided into three experimental groups: the control group …
Friend or foe? The apparent benefits of gregarine (Apicomplexa: Sporozoa) infection in the European earwig
2020
International audience; Studying the costs and benefits of host-parasite interactions is of central importance to shed light on the evolutionary drivers of host life history traits. Although gregarines (Apicomplexa: Sporozoa) are one of the most frequent parasites in the gut of invertebrates, the diversity of its potential impacts on a host remains poorly explored. In this study, we addressed this gap in knowledge by investigating the prevalence of natural infections by the gregarine Gregarina ovata and testing how these infections shape a large set of morphological, behavioural and physiological traits in the European earwig Forficula auricularia. Our results first show that G. ovata was p…