Patch exploitation strategies of parasitic wasps under intraspecific competition

Marlène Goubault, Yannick Outreman, Denis Poinsot and Anne Marie Cortesero

Behavioral Ecology, 2005, vol. 16, issue 4, 693-701

Abstract: The optimal residence time of a forager exploiting a resource patch in the absence of competitors has been much studied since the development of the marginal value theorem. However, several foragers are frequently observed exploiting the same patch simultaneously, and patch residence time has been surprisingly little studied in such competitive situations. The few theoretical models developed on this topic predict that foragers should engage in a war of attrition and stay in the patch longer than when foraging alone. We tested this prediction in Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), a solitary parasitoid species in which females are known to defend the hosts they are exploiting via intraspecific fighting. By measuring the effect of direct (i.e., presence of conspecifics) and indirect (i.e., presence of already-parasitized hosts) competition on patch exploitation strategies, we revealed an apparent polymorphism of strategies. Indeed, in competitive situations, some members of the population tended to retreat almost immediately from the patch whereas other members tended to remain, further exploit the patch, and be more involved in interactions with conspecifics. The proportion of "retreaters" strongly depended on competition intensity and prior experience of competition. The forager's physiological state (age) also affects patch exploitation strategy and the intensity of interactions between competing females. Our results highlight the necessity for further theoretical studies that consider cases where contests between foragers are costly and take into account prior experience of competition and the forager's physiological state. Copyright 2005.

Keywords: agonistic behavior; direct competition; optimal foraging; parasitoid; patch quality; physiological state; prior experience of competition; Pteromalidae (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/ari043 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:16:y:2005:i:4:p:693-701

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().