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Host Defense and Parasite Evasion
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2023
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
As we will discuss in Chapter 6, immune responses are costly to mount, and heavy investment in defenses can limit the resources available for other key functions such as reproduction. This general constraint would certainly apply to invertebrates too. Consequently, it is not surprising that animals resort to particular behaviors to limit their exposure to parasites or, in the context here, to supplement their immune responses. One example is provided by the larvae of Drosophila melanogaster, which consume yeast developing in rotting fruit. The larvae are susceptible to attack by parasitoid wasps (species of Leptopilina), the females of which inject their eggs into the fly larvae. The developing wasp larvae then consume and eventually kill the fly larvae. Upon wasp attack, fly larvae seek out food containing ethanol, which proves to be an advantageous drinking habit in this case. Wasp larvae are more sensitive to the effects of ethanol than the fly larvae, and ethanol supplementation in the larval fly diet reduces wasp infection success, increases killing of wasp larvae and promotes survivorship of larval flies without the fly larvae having to mount typical defense responses.
Parasites and Conservation Biology
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2015
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
One obvious way to diminish the advantage that an invasive species might enjoy from leaving its parasites behind is to deliberately introduce that species’ parasites from its original range into its new one. This approach is frequently taken with invasive agricultural insect pests. Such an invasion might prompt the introduction of particular species of parasitoid wasps from the pest insect’s original range. Such wasps are assessed carefully for their specificity to the pest insect being targeted and have often been successful in achieving specific control of the original pest. Nonetheless, great care is warranted. It is often difficult to predict what will happen when the parasitoids are introduced into new habitats containing indigenous host species closely related to the invasive pest. Examples have often been provided in which such introduced parasitoids have switched to native host species.
A short guide to insect oviposition: when, where and how to lay an egg
Published in Journal of Neurogenetics, 2019
Kevin M. Cury, Benjamin Prud’homme, Nicolas Gompel
As mentioned above, parasitoid wasp odors inhibit Drosophila egg-laying behavior. Similarly, the visual detection of wasps is sufficient to alter female oviposition behavior: they actively search for a safe environment for their eggs, for instance a substrate containing high concentration of ethanol (Kacsoh, Lynch, Mortimer, & Schlenke, 2013), which protects the eggs from the wasps. Alternatively, if no suitable substrate is available, females retain their eggs and ultimately eliminate them. Females exposed to wasps can signal the danger to unexposed flies with wing movements: observers receiving this visual signal, although they have not seen the wasps themselves, will also retain and destroy their eggs (Kacsoh, Bozler, Ramaswami, & Bosco, 2015).
Integrating inert dusts with other technologies in stored products protection
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2021
Masumeh Ziaee, Asgar Ebadollahi, Waqas Wakil
Very few researches have been conducted on the application of DEs in integrated with parasitoids. The parasitoid of rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) showed sensitivity to Protect-It formulation of DE. So that, the longevity of parasitoid female adults, parasitization rate of the weevils, and parasitoid progeny production was significantly suppressed in the treated wheat (Perez-Mendoza et al. 1999). Therefore, application of DE will not only reduce the efficiency of biological control agents, but will also contaminate food. However, the appropriate application of natural enemies could reduce the contamination of stored commodities with parasitoid wasps (Scholler 2010).
Facts and ideas from anywhere
Published in Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 2020
Insects are far and away the most diverse creatures on the planet—so much so that scientists are still struggling to figure out how many kinds there are. About 1 million insect species have been named, but it is generally agreed that many more—by recent estimates some 4 million more—have yet to be discovered. Just one family of parasitoid wasps, sometimes called Darwin wasps, contain something like 100,000 species, greater than the number of all known species of fish, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and birds combined. Other insect families are similarly big; for example, perhaps 6000 species of weevils are known.