Parasitoid Increases Survival of Its Pupae by Inducing Hosts to Fight Predators

@article{citeulike:2873691, abstract = {Many true parasites and parasitoids modify the behaviour of their host, and these changes are thought to be to the benefit of the parasites. However, field tests of this hypothesis are scarce, and it is often unclear whether the host or the parasite profits from the behavioural changes, or even if parasitism is a cause or consequence of the behaviour. We show that braconid parasitoids (Glyptapanteles sp.) induce their caterpillar host (Thyrinteina leucocerae) to behave as a bodyguard of the parasitoid pupae. After parasitoid larvae exit from the host to pupate, the host stops feeding, remains close to the pupae, knocks off predators with violent head-swings, and dies before reaching adulthood. Unparasitized caterpillars do not show these behaviours. In the field, the presence of bodyguard hosts resulted in a two-fold reduction in mortality of parasitoid pupae. Hence, the behaviour appears to be parasitoid-induced and confers benefits exclusively to the parasitoid.}, author = {Grosman, Amir H. and Janssen, Arne and de Brito, Elaine F. and Cordeiro, Eduardo G. and Colares, Felipe and Fonseca, Juliana O. and Lima, Eraldo R. and Pallini, Angelo and Sabelis, Maurice W. }, citeulike-article-id = {2873691}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002276}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, keywords = {behaviour, insect, parasite}, month = {June}, number = {6}, pages = {e2276+}, posted-at = {2008-07-08 06:26:44}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {Parasitoid Increases Survival of Its Pupae by Inducing Hosts to Fight Predators}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002276}, volume = {3}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2873691 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2873691 TI - Parasitoid Increases Survival of Its Pupae by Inducing Hosts to Fight Predators JF - PLoS ONE VL - 3 IS - 6 SP - e2276 PB - Public Library of Science N2 - Many true parasites and parasitoids modify the behaviour of their host, and these changes are thought to be to the benefit of the parasites. However, field tests of this hypothesis are scarce, and it is often unclear whether the host or the parasite profits from the behavioural changes, or even if parasitism is a cause or consequence of the behaviour. We show that braconid parasitoids (Glyptapanteles sp.) induce their caterpillar host (Thyrinteina leucocerae) to behave as a bodyguard of the parasitoid pupae. After parasitoid larvae exit from the host to pupate, the host stops feeding, remains close to the pupae, knocks off predators with violent head-swings, and dies before reaching adulthood. Unparasitized caterpillars do not show these behaviours. In the field, the presence of bodyguard hosts resulted in a two-fold reduction in mortality of parasitoid pupae. Hence, the behaviour appears to be parasitoid-induced and confers benefits exclusively to the parasitoid. KW - behaviour KW - insect KW - parasite AU - Grosman, Amir AU - Janssen, Arne AU - de Brito, Elaine AU - Cordeiro, Eduardo AU - Colares, Felipe AU - Fonseca, Juliana AU - Lima, Eraldo AU - Pallini, Angelo AU - Sabelis, Maurice PY - 2008/06/04/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002276 ER -