One generalist or several specialist species? Wide host range and diverse manipulations of the hosts’ web‐building behaviour in the true spider parasitoidZatypota kauros(Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

Abstract

1. Parasitoid wasps of the Polysphincta genus-group are highly specialised on their spider hosts, and most of them are known to manipulate their hosts into building a special web in which the parasitoid pupates. Trophic niche and the plasticity of host use were investigated in the koinobiont parasitoid Zatypota kauros Gauld from Queensland, Australia.2. We found that Z. kauros attacks spider hosts from different families, each differing widely in their web-building behaviours, which makes it unique in the breadth of its host range. Molecular analyses revealed that the taxon Z. kauros contains three divergent mitochondrial lineages. Lineage A was associated exclusively with spiders of the genus Anelosimus (Theridiidae), which builds tangle webs; lineage B was associated with the genus Cyrtophora (Araneidae), which weaves tent webs; and lineage C was associated with a broad range of hosts, including spiders of both the families Araneidae and Theridiidae. Unique host manipulations could be observed in the web-building behaviours of the different host groups. Nevertheless, nuclear data from two ribosomal genes and three introns did not add any support to the existence of different evolutionary lineages, nor did they coincide with the different host groups.3. The partial correspondence of mitochondrial lineage and host use, together with an apparent mito-nuclear conflict might indicate maternal effects or very recent and/or incomplete speciation in this taxon. Given their wide host range and intriguing interactions with their hosts, the Z. kauros complex represents a promising system for studying parasitoid specialisation and its potential impact on speciation.

Molecular and cytogenetic differentiation within the Lariophagus distinguendus (Förster, 1841) species complex (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae)

“…On the other hand, relatively strong differences in the structure of COI sequences between certain strains with the same karyotype do not necessarily indicate their species status (see e.g. Hernández-López et al 2012, Korenko et al 2018). Further molecular studies, which should also include nuclear markers for those strains that were not previously examined in this respect, are therefore needed (see König et al 2015).…”

The northernmost record of Eriostethus rufus (Uchida, 1932) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) with an indication of new host, Trichonephila clavata (Koch, 1878) (Araneae, Araneidae) and its web manipulation

“…The modified cocoon web (Fig. 1) is unique in comparison to other cocoon webs previously reported in polysphinctines including species parasitic on nephilines (Gonzaga et al 2010;Korenko et al 2018b) in that the web structure is composed of multiple long threads spun between two perpendicular twigs, forming a triangle. This structure is clearly different from the spherical cocoon web of N. mellotteei induced by the same species (Matsumoto 2016) and graphically illustrates that manipulated web-building behaviour can differ greatly within hosts of the same polysphinctine species.…”

“…all Araneidae excluding Zygiellinae, Nephilinae, and Paraplectanoides). Utilization of nephiline spiders by polysphinctine wasps has been known in two species of the genus Hymenoepimecis Viereck, 1912, parasitoids of Trichonephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767) in the Neotropics (Fincke et al 1990;Gonzaga et al 2010) and a species of the genus Zatypota Forster, 1869, a parasitoid of Trichonephila plumipes (Latreille, 1804) in Australia (Korenko et al 2018b). Therefore, Eriostethus is the third genus known or suspected to parasitise Nephilinae.…”

Pax islamita (Araneae: Zodariidae) as a new host of an acrocerid fly from Israel

“…Hymenopteran parasitoids often modify the behaviour of their spider hosts (e.g., Korenko et al 2014Korenko et al , 2018. This oc curs in many different forms (Thomas et al 2005), but most frequently it includes construction of a retreat.…”