Oviposition Restraint and Developmental Alterations in the Ectoparasitic Wasp,Nasonia vitripennis, When Utilizing Puparia Resulting From Different Size Maggot Masses ofLucilia illustris,Protophormia terraenovae, andSarcophaga bullata

Abstract

Adult females of the ectoparasitoid Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) are capable of distinguishing between hosts of different quality, and then correspondingly adjust clutch sizes and sex ratios of the offspring. In this study, we examined whether the size of the maggot mass, and presumably the developmental temperature, influenced the suitability of the resulting fly pupal and pharate adult stages as hosts for N. vitripennis. Three sizes of maggot masses (100; 500; and 1,000 individuals per mass) were selected for use to generate hosts based on previous studies characterizing developmental and heat shock response differences for the flies. For all host species tested (Lucilia illustris, Protophormia terraenovae, and Sarcophaga bullata), the rate of parasitism by N. vitripennis decreased with increasing maggot mass size. When successful parasitism did occur, parasitoid development increased in duration, clutch sizes decreased, mortality from egg hatch to adult emergence elevated, male biased sex ratios were produced, and adult wasp body sizes were truncated with increasing fly larval density. These wasp life history features are consistent with reductions in host quality. Host quality reductions corresponded to production of heat shock proteins 23, 60, and 70. Heat shock protein synthesis appeared to occur at the expense of normal protein production because total hemolymph protein concentrations decreased with increased larval density in maggot masses. These observations argue that use of N. vitripennis in criminal investigations to estimate periods of insect activity or a minimum post mortem interval must take into account the maggot mass history of the hosts used by the wasp.

Development of the gregarious ectoparasitoid Nasonia vitripennis using five species of necrophagous flies as hosts and at various developmental temperatures

“…Rearing temperatures, regardless of host species used for parasitism, profoundly influenced wasp development. As expected (Rivers et al., ), the duration of development decreased with elevated temperatures until approaching 35 °C, a temperature that resulted in a high incidence of mortality, and for those wasps that were able to complete development, body sizes were stunted and sex ratio skewed toward males by comparison to other temperatures tested. For any insect, developmental temperatures near the upper threshold of the zone of tolerance and/or near the critical thermal maximum are expected to negatively impact development (i.e., depressed growth rates, induction of heat stupor), and if the exposure is sufficiently long, culminates in death (Rivers & Dahlem, ).…”

“…Host species can also magnify differences associated with multi‐ and superparasitism involving this parasitoid. Any muscid species, or calliphorids or sarcophagids that yield small puparia, are nutritionally inferior hosts for N. vitripennis by comparison to preferred hosts (Rivers & Denlinger, ,b; Rivers et al., ), and under conditions in which multiple parasitism events occur, larval development is extended and often the length of the pupal period as well (Rivers et al., ). In several previous studies aimed at calculating the duration of wasp development, experimental design flaws exposed fly hosts to possible superparasitism conditions.…”

“…vitripennis . The temperatures that the hosts experience during larval development must also be controlled as they have been shown to not only negatively influence wasp developmental progression, but also evoke the heat shock protein response in wasp larvae (Rivers et al., ), a stress response that is known to retard normal patterns of development (Feder, ).…”

“…This study attempts to overcome such limitations by restricting wasp behavior to a single oviposition event and host, as determined previously (Rivers, ; Rivers et al., ). We also extend the temperature‐dependent development data of N .…”

A safe, free and efficient way to control Nasonia vitripennis, a common pest in forensic entomology laboratories

“…The wasps lay eggs inside the puparium, and the larvae develop by feeding on the living fly nympha. After several days, 10-40 young adult wasps emerge from the puparium, ready to start a new generation [1,2,7]. In forensic entomology laboratories, they are usually introduced with contaminated puparia sampled in the field, but direct contamination by adult wasps is also frequent.…”