Hyperparasitic showdown: Sclerodermus cereicollis, a non-aggressive but surprisingly secondary hyperparasitoid


Submitted: 26 March 2024
Accepted: 11 April 2024
Published: 29 May 2024
Abstract Views: 1703
PDF: 76
HTML: 1
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

This study investigates the dynamics of hyperparasitism within the Bethylidae family, focusing on the interaction between Sclerodermus cereicollis and Goniozus legneri, two parasitoid wasp species characterized by different sociality and aggressivity towards conspecifics. Experimental trials were conducted using Corcyra cephalonica larvae as hosts, with different setups to stimulate competition. The results revealed unexpected behaviors, especially by S. cereicollis, including aggressive interactions, cannibalism, and hyperparasitism. In contrast, despite the typically aggressive nature of G. legneri, no particular hostility was observed toward S. cereicollis. The study highlights the complex dynamics of competition for resources among parasitoids, shedding light on the adaptive strategies and fitness costs associated with hyperparasitism. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the ecological interactions within parasitoid wasp communities.


ABDI M.K., HARDY I.C.W., JUCKER C., LUPI D., 2020b - Kinship effects in quasi-social parasitoids II: Co-foundress relatedness and host dangerousness interactively affect host exploitation. – Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 130:642-660. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa047

ABDI M.K., JUCKER C., DE MARCHI B., HARDY I.C.W., LUPI D., 2021 - Performance of Sclerodermus brevicornis, a parasitoid of invasive longhorn beetles, when reared on rice moth larvae. – Entomol. Ex. Appl. 169:64-78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12946

ABDI M.K., LUPI D., HARDY I.C.W., 2020c - Co-foundress confinement elicits kinship effects in a naturally sub-social parasitoid. – J. Evolutio. Biol. 33:1068-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13635

ABDI M.K., LUPI D., JUCKER C., HARDY I.C.W., 2020a - Kinship effects in quasi-social parasitoids I: co-foundress number and relatedness affect suppression of dangerous hosts. - Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 130:627-641. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa046

AMANTE M., SCHÖLLER M., SUMA P., RUSSO A., 2017 - Bethylids attacking stored product pests: an overview. - Entomol. Ex. Appl. 163:251-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12587

AZEVEDO C.O., ALENCAR I.D.C.C., RAMOS M.S., BARBOSA D.N., COLOMBO W.D., VARGAS J.M.R., LIM J., 2018 - Global guide of the flat wasps (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae). – Zootaxa. 4489:1-294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4489.1.1

BENTLEY T., HULL T.T., HARDY I.C.W., GOUBAULT M., 2009 - The elusive paradox: owner–intruder roles, strategies, and outcomes in parasitoid contests – Behav. Ecol. 20:296-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arp007

BRODEUR J., 2000 - Host specificity and trophic relationships of hyperparasitoids. - In: M.E. Choe, J.C., Crespi B.J. (eds.). (1997). The evolution of social behaviour in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691230894-013

CUSUMANO A., PERI E., COLAZZA S., 2016 - Interspecific competition/facilitation among insect parasitoids. – Cur. Opin. Insect Sci. 14:12-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2015.11.006

CUSUMANO A., PERI E., VINSON S.B., COLAZZA S., 2011 - Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids exploring host patches. - BioControl. 56:173-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-010-9320-z

DAVID J.W.M., COOK J.M., 1994 - Extremely precise sex ratios in small clutches of a bethylid wasp. - Oikos, 71:423-430. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3545830

FINLAYSON L.H., 1950 - Host preference of Cephalonomia waterstoni Gahan, a bethylid parasitoid of Laemophloeus species. - Behaviour, 275-316. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156853950X00134

GAO S.K., WEI K., TANG Y.L., WANG X.Y., YANG Z.Q., 2016 - Effect of parasitoid density on the timing of parasitism and development duration of progeny in Sclerodermus pupariae (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae). – Biol. Control 97:57-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.03.003

GODFRAY H.C.J., 1994 - Parasitoids: behavioral and evolutionary ecology. - Princeton: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691207025

GORDH G., 1981 - The phenomenon of insect hyperparasitism and its occurrence in the Insecta. - In: D. Rosen (ed), The role of hyperparasitism in biological control: a symposium. Division of Agricultural Sciences, University of California, Berkeley; 4103:10-18.

GOUBAULT M., BATCHELOR T.P., LINFORTH R.S., TAYLOR A.J., HARDY I.C.W., 2006 - Volatile emission by contest losers revealed by real-time chemical analysis. - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 273:2853-2859. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3655

GRANDGIRARD J., POINSOT D., KRESPI L., NÉNON J.P., CORTESERO A.M., 2002 - Costs of secondary parasitism in the facultative hyperparasitoid Pachycrepoideus dubius: Does host size matter? - Ent. Exp. Appl. 103:239-248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1570-7458.2002.00982.x

GRIFFITHS N.T., GODFRAY H.C.J., 1988 - Local mate competition, sex ratio and clutch size in bethylid wasps. – Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 22:211-217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300571

GUO X., ZHOU B., ZHAO R., MENG L., HARDY I., LI B., 2023 - Agonistic responses to potential co-foundresses in a cooperatively brooding quasi-social parasitoid. – Ecol. Entomol. 48:11-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13197

HARDY I.C., GOUBAULT M., BATCHELOR T.P., 2013 - Hymenopteran contests and agonistic. - Animal contests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom; 147-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139051248.010

HARVEY J.A., POELMAN E.H., TANAKA T., 2013 - Intrinsic inter- and intraspecific competition in parasitoid wasps. - Annu. Rev. Entomol. 58:333-351. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153622

HAWKINS B., 1994 - Pattern and process in host-parasitoid interactions. - Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press. 190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511721885

HAYE T., ZHANG J., RISSE M., GARIEPY T.D., 2021 - A temporal trophic shift from primary parasitism to facultative hyperparasitism during interspecific competition between two coevolved scelionid egg parasitoids. - Ecol. Evol. 11:18708-18718. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8483

HOWARD R.W., FLINN P.W., 1990 - Larval trails of Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) as kairomonal host finding cues for the parasitoid Cephalonomia waterstoni (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae). - Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 83:239-245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/83.2.239

HUBBARD S.F., MARRIS G., REYNOLDS A., ROWE G.W., 1987 - Adaptive patterns in the avoidance of superparasitism by solitary parasitic wasps. - J. Animal Ecol. 56:387-401. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/5055

JUCKER C., HARDY I.C.W., MALABUSINI S., DE MILATO S., ZEN G., SAVOLDELLI S., LUPI D., 2020 - Factors affecting the reproduction and mass-rearing of Sclerodermus brevicornis (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), a natural enemy of exotic flat-faced longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae). - Insects. 11:1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11100657

LEHTONEN J., MALABUSINI S., GUO X., HARDY I.C.W., 2023 - Individual- and group-level sex ratios under local mate competition: consequences of infanticide and reproductive dominance. - Evol. Lett. 7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrac005

LIMONTA L., LOCATELLI D.P., BROGLIA T., BAUMGARTNER J., 2009 - Cohort development models for integrated Corcyra cephalonica population management (Stainton). - Bollettino di Zoologia Agraria e di Bachicoltura 41:215-226.

LIU Z., XU B., LI L., SUN J., 2011 - Host-size mediated trade-off in a parasitoid Sclerodermus harmandi. - PLoS One. 6:e23260 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023260

LIZÉ A., KHIDR S.K., HARDY I.C., 2012 - Two components of kin recognition influence parasitoid aggression in resource competition. - Anim. Behav. 83:793-799. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.01.001

LUPI D., FAVARO R., JUCKER C., AZEVEDO C.O., HARDY I.C.W., FACCOLI M., 2017 - Reproductive biology of Sclerodermus brevicornis, a European parasitoid developing on three species of invasive longhorn beetles. - Biol. Control. 105:40-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.11.008

MALABUSINI S., HARDY I C.W., JUCKER C., SAVOLDELLI S., LUPI D., 2022 - How many cooperators are too many? Foundress number, reproduction and sex ratio in a quasi-social parasitoid. - Ecol. Entomol. 47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13141

MALABUSINI S., HARDY I.C., JUCKER C., GUANZANI G., SAVOLDELLI S., LUPI D., 2023 - Reproductive performance effects of rearing the quasi-social parasitoid, Sclerodermus brevicornis (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), on a factitious host. - J. Insect Sci. 23:7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iead046

MASINI P., PIERSANTI S., LUPI D., SALERNO G., REBORA M., 2024 - Antennal chemoreceptors in the European ectoparasitoid Sclerodermus cereicollis (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) – Microsc. Res. Tech. 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jemt.24597

PÉREZ-LACHAUD G., BATCHELOR T.P., HARDY I.C.W., 2004 - Wasp eat wasp: facultative hyperparasitism and intra-guild predation by bethylid wasps. - Biol. Control. 30:149-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2004.03.003

PÉREZ-LACHAUD G., HARDY I.C.W., LACHAUD J.P., 2002 - Insect gladiators: competitive interactions between three species of bethylid wasps attacking the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). - Biol. Control. 25:231-238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1049-9644(02)00103-2

PÉREZ-LACHAUD G., HARDY I.C., 2001 - Alternative hosts for bethylid parasitoids of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). - Biol. Control. 22:265-277. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0976

PETERSEN G., HARDY I.C., 1996 - The importance of being larger: parasitoid intruder–owner contests and their implications for clutch size. - Anim. Behav. 51:1363-1373. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0139

POELMAN E.H., CUSUMANO A., DE BOER J.G., 2022 - The ecology of hyperparasitoids. - Annu. Rev. Entomol. 67:143-161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-060921-072718

STRINGER D., JENNINGS J., AUSTIN A.D., 2012 - Family BETHYLIDAE. - 486-487.

SULLIVAN D.J., 1987 - Insect hyperparasitism. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 32:49-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.32.010187.000405

SULLIVAN D.J., 1988 - Hyperparasites. Aphids, their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control, Vol. B. - Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam.

SULLIVAN D.J., VÖLKL W., 1999 - HYPERPARASITISM: multitrophic ecology and behavior. - Annu. Rev. Entomol. vol. 44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.44.1.291

VAN BAAREN J., BOIVIN G., NÉNON J., 1995 - Intraspecific hyperparasitism in a primary hymenopteran parasitoid. – Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 36:237-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00165832

Malabusini, S., & Lupi, D. (2024). Hyperparasitic showdown: <i>Sclerodermus cereicollis</i>, a non-aggressive but surprisingly secondary hyperparasitoid. Journal of Entomological and Acarological Research, 56(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jear.2024.12507

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations