Galls induced by the larval stage of cecidosids (Lepidoptera: Cecidosidae) are complex, multi-trophic systems, still poorly studied. They may be associated with other insect feeding guilds, including inquilines, kleptoparasites, cecidophages, parasitoids, and predators. By causing death of the gall inducer early in life and altering the gall phenotype, inquilines may lead to misidentification o...

BACKGROUND The wasp subfamilies Amiseginae and Loboscelidiinae (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) were last catalogued in Kimsey and Bohart (1991). The subfamilies are considered to be obligate egg parasitoids of the Phasmida (stick insects), which are known to be pests in many areas of the world (Baker 2015). Our lack of knowledge of these wasps, in particular their host associations and host specific...

Aphids commonly harbour facultative bacterial endosymbionts and may benefit from their presence through increased resistance to parasitoids. This has been demonstrated for Hamiltonella defensa and Serratia symbiotica, while a third common endosymbiont, Regiella insecticola, did not provide such protection. However, this symbiont was recently detected in a highly resistant clone of the peach-pot...

In any hosteparasitoid interaction, the detection of the host in its microhabitat is a crucial step in the interaction that has a major influence on the parasitoid’s fitness. We used bioassays to investigate whether the parasitoid Sympiesis sericeicornis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) uses the vibrations of its host Phyllonorycter sp. gr. blancardella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) to detect it in th...

Parasitoid wasps lay female eggs or a high proportion of female eggs in favourable host insects because female wasps require many more resources during their development. Many studies have tested the effects of host physiological status on the sex allocation of parasitoids, but few have attempted to test the effects of host behavioural traits. Cotesia glomerata is a gregarious parasitoid wasp t...

Since its introduction in France 10 years ago, the yellow-legged Asian bee-hawking hornet Vespa velutina has rapidly spread to neighboring countries (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and Germany), becoming a new threat to beekeeping activities. While introduced species often leave behind natural enemies from their original home, which benefits them in their new environment, they can also suffer...

Eggs are an immobile, vulnerable stage of development and their success often depends on the oviposition decisions of the mother. Studies show that female animals, and sometimes males, may invest parental resources in order to increase the survival of their offspring. Here, we describe a unique form of parental investment in offspring survival. The seed beetle Mimosestes amicus may lay eggs sin...

The cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, produces pierisin-1, a protein inducing apoptosis of mammalian cells. In the present study, the biological activity of pierisin-1 as a protective agent against parasitic wasps for P. rapae was examined. Pierisin-1 caused detrimental effects on eggs and larvae of non-habitual parasitoids for P. rapae, Glyptapanteles pallipes, Cotesia kariyai and Cotesia...

Venom composition of parasitoid wasps attracts increasing interest - notably molecules ensuring parasitism success on arthropod pests - but its variation within and among taxa is not yet understood. We have identified here the main venom proteins of two braconid wasps, Psyttalia lounsburyi (two strains from South Africa and Kenya) and P. concolor, olive fruit fly parasitoids that differ in host...

Many adult parasitoids feed on host insects, a behavior known as host-feeding. Feeding on hosts is essential to maximizing female fecundity, but its contribution to reproduction varies from species to species. The relationship between fecundity and host-feeding was examined in the solitary endoparasitoid wasp Itoplectis naranyae Ashmead, (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) to assess the significance o...