Nutritional ecology of endoparasitic insects and their hosts: An overview

The impact of insect endoparasites (parasitoids) on the physiology and behaviour of their hosts is reviewed within the context of the nutritional ecology of the parasitoids and their hosts. Alterations in the consumption, utilization and allocation of food by parasitized hosts are common, as are int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of insect physiology Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 255 - 261
Main Author Slansky, Frank
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 1986
Elsevier
Subjects
animal behavior
animal nutrition
Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology
Biological and medical sciences
ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
hosts
insect parasitism
insect parasitoids
Insecta
insects
Invertebrates
nutrition physiology
Nutritional ecology
nutritional physiology
parasites
parasites of insect pests
Physiology. Development
insect parasitism
nutritional physiology
Nutritional ecology
insect parasitoids
Host parasite relation
Food intake
Arthropoda
Insecta
Ecology
Review
Invertebrata
Feeding
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Summary:The impact of insect endoparasites (parasitoids) on the physiology and behaviour of their hosts is reviewed within the context of the nutritional ecology of the parasitoids and their hosts. Alterations in the consumption, utilization and allocation of food by parasitized hosts are common, as are internal changes in their metabolic physiology. Gregarious parasitoid species frequently increase feeding by their host larvae whereas solitary parasitoid species often reduce feeding and growth of their hosts. Many parasitoid-associated changes in host physiology and behaviour are interpreted to be of adaptive significance to parasitoids. Substantial circumstantial evidence suggests, and a few direct tests of such adaptive significance indicate, that parasitoids alter their hosts in ways beneficial to their own fitness. However, most of the changes in parasitized hosts are of unknown cause and undocumented significance to the parasitoids. Several relevant hypotheses are presented, and these require extensive evaluation (often requiring novel experimental approaches) before a thorough understanding of parasitoid nutritional ecology is established.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1910
1879-1611
DOI:10.1016/0022-1910(86)90036-3