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Sheng S, Song Y, Ahmad S, Wang J, Shao Y, Liu ZX, Wu FA. Sublethal effects of organophosphorus insecticide phoxim on patch time allocation and oviposition behavior in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2022; 112:91-100. [PMID: 34425923 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485321000614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Parasitoid wasps are key agents for controlling insect pests in integrated pest management programs. Although many studies have revealed that the behavior of parasitic wasps can be influenced by insecticides, the strategies of patch time allocation and oviposition have received less attention. In the present study, we forced the endoparasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis to phoxim exposure at the LC30 and tested the foraging behavior within patches with different densities of the host, the larvae of the tobacco cutworm Spodoptera litura. The results showed that phoxim treatment can significantly increase the patch-leaving tendency of female wasps, while host density had no impact. The number of oviposition and the number of previous patch visits also significantly influenced the patch time allocation decisions. The occurrence of oviposition behavior was negatively affected by phoxim exposure; however, progeny production was similar among patches with different host densities. Phoxim exposure shaped the offspring fitness correlates, including longer durations from cocoon to adult wasps, smaller body size, and shorter longevity. The findings of the present study highlight the sublethal effects that reduce the patch residence time and the fitness of parasitoid offspring, suggesting that the application of phoxim in association with M. pulchricornis should be carefully schemed in agroecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Sheng
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Yan Song
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Sheraz Ahmad
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Jiao Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Ying Shao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Zhi-Xiang Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
| | - Fu-An Wu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
- Key Laboratory of Silkworm and Mulberry Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang212018, PR China
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Experimental subjects do not know what we think they know. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1117. [PMID: 31980648 PMCID: PMC6981300 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-57395-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Many biological, psychological and economic experiments have been designed where an organism or individual must choose between two options that have the same expected reward but differ in the variance of reward received. In this way, designed empirical approaches have been developed for evaluating risk preferences. Here, however, we show that if the experimental subject is inferring the reward distribution (to optimize some process), they will rarely agree in finite time that the expected rewards are equal. In turn, we argue that this makes discussions of risk preferences, and indeed the motivations of behaviour, not so simple or straightforward to interpret. We use this particular experiment to highlight the serious need to consider the frame of reference of the experimental subject in studies of behaviour.
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Koppik M, Thiel A, Hoffmeister TS. Egg laying rather than host quality or host feeding experience drives habitat estimation in the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:14015-14022. [PMID: 31938499 PMCID: PMC6953583 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2019] [Revised: 10/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In variable environments, sampling information on habitat quality is essential for making adaptive foraging decisions. In insect parasitoids, females foraging for hosts have repeatedly been shown to employ behavioral strategies that are in line with predictions from optimal foraging models. Yet, which cues exactly are employed to sample information on habitat quality has rarely been investigated. Using the gregarious parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis (Walker; Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), we provided females with different cues about hosts to elucidate, which of them would change a wasp's posterior behavior suggesting a change in information status. We employed posterior clutch size decisions on a host as proxy for a female's estimation of habitat quality. Taking into account changes in physiological state of the foraging parasitoid, we tested whether different host qualities encountered previously change the subsequent clutch size decision in females. Additionally, we investigated whether other kinds of positive experiences-such as ample time to investigate hosts, host feeding, or egg laying-would increase a wasp's estimated value of habitat quality. Contrary to our expectations, quality differences in previously encountered hosts did not affect clutch size decisions. However, we found that prior egg laying experience changes posterior egg allocation to a host, indicating a change in female information status. Host feeding and the time available for host inspection, though correlated with egg laying experience, did not seem to contribute to this change in information status.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andra Thiel
- Institute of EcologyUniversity of BremenBremenGermany
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Louâpre P, Le Lann C, Hance T. When parasitoids deal with the spatial distribution of their hosts: consequences for both partners. INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 26:923-931. [PMID: 29488695 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Insect parasitoids developing inside hosts face a true challenge: hosts are scattered in the field and their localization and selection require the use of complex and sometime confusing information. It was assumed for a long time that small-brained organisms like parasitoids have evolved simple and efficient behavioral mechanisms, leading them to be adapted to a given ecological situation, for example, the spatial distribution of hosts in the habitat. However, hosts are not static and their distribution may also vary through generations and within the life of parasitoid individuals. We investigated if and how parasitoids deal with such a spatial complexity in a mesocosm experiment. We used the Aphidius rhopalosiphi/Sitobion avenae parasitoid/host system to investigate if parasitoid females experiencing different host aggregation levels exhibit different foraging behaviors independently of the number of hosts in the environment. We showed that A. rhopalosiphi females exploited hosts more intensively both within and among patches at higher host aggregation levels. We discussed the adaptiveness of such behaviors in the light of evolution and biological control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Louâpre
- Earth and Life Institue, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- CNRS, Biogéosciences UMR 6282, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Cécile Le Lann
- UMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, University of Rennes 1, Rennes Cedex, France
| | - Thierry Hance
- Earth and Life Institue, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Field JM, Bonsall MB. Ignorance can be evolutionarily beneficial. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:71-77. [PMID: 29321852 PMCID: PMC5756876 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Information is increasingly being viewed as a resource used by organisms to increase their fitness. Indeed, it has been formally shown that there is a sensible way to assign a reproductive value to information and it is non‐negative. However, all of this work assumed that information collection is cost‐free. Here, we account for such a cost and provide conditions for when the reproductive value of information will be negative. In these instances, counterintuitively, it is in the interest of the organism to remain ignorant. We link our results to empirical studies where Bayesian behavior appears to break down in complex environments and provide an alternative explanation of lowered arousal thresholds in the evolution of sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared M. Field
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical BiologyMathematical InstituteUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Mathematical Ecology Research GroupDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Michael B. Bonsall
- Mathematical Ecology Research GroupDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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Louâpre P, Fauvergue X, van Baaren J, Martel V. The male mate search: an optimal foraging issue? CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2015; 9:91-95. [PMID: 32846715 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2015.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2014] [Revised: 02/22/2015] [Accepted: 02/24/2015] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Male insects must find and mate females to have some descendants; male fitness therefore depends on the number of females they inseminate. Males are for this reason expected to optimize the behaviors related to mate location, orientation and copulation. Although optimization of the reproductive behavior of males has long been neglected in the literature, recent studies suggest a renewed interest for this idea. Here we discuss the parallel between male mate-finding and mating strategies in insects and optimal foraging theory (OFT), a class of models which formalize the behavior of organisms seeking and exploiting resources, generally food. We highlight the different facets of male mating systems allowing such a parallel, and claim for a unifying approach of foraging behavior. Finally, we discuss novel research perspective emerging from the application of OFT to male reproductive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Louâpre
- University of Burgundy, UMR CNRS 6282 Biogeosciences, 6 bd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France.
| | - Xavier Fauvergue
- Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, UMR INRA-CNRS-UNS 1355, 400 route des Chappes, BP 167, 06903 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
| | - Joan van Baaren
- University of Rennes 1, UMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
| | - Véronique Martel
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 rue du P.E.P.S, P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Ste-Foy, Québec, Québec, Canada
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Sperm whale echolocation behaviour reveals a directed, prior-based search strategy informed by prey distribution. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1877-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Latty T, Beekman M. Slime moulds use heuristics based on within-patch experience to decide when to leave. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:1175-9. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.116533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2014] [Accepted: 02/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animals foraging in patchy, non- or slowly-renewing environments must make decisions about how long to remain within a patch. Organisms can use heuristics (‘rules of thumb’) based on available information to decide when to leave the patch. Here we investigate proximate patch departure heuristics in two species of giant, brainless amoeba: the slime moulds Didymium bahiense and Physarum polycephalum. We explicitly tested the importance of information obtained through experience by eliminating chemosensory cues of patch quality. In Physarum polycephalum, patch departure was influenced by the consumption of high, and to a much lesser extent low, quality food items such that engulfing a food item increased patch residency time. Physarum polycephalum also tended to forage for longer in darkened, ‘safe’ patches. In Didymium bahiense, engulfment of either a high or low quality food item increased patch residency irrespective of that food item's quality. Exposure to light had no effect on the patch residency time of D. bahiense. Given that our organisms lack a brain, our results illustrate how the use of simple heuristics can give the impression that individuals make sophisticated foraging decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya Latty
- Department of Plant and Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment, University of Sydney, NSW, 2015, Australia
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab and Centre for Mathematical Biology, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Sheng S, Feng S, Meng L, Li B. Departure mechanisms for host search on high-density patches by the Meteorus pulchricornis. JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2014; 14:205. [PMID: 25502040 PMCID: PMC5633939 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieu067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2013] [Accepted: 06/03/2013] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Less attention has been paid to the parasitoid-host system in which the host occurs in considerably high density with a hierarchical patch structure in studies on time allocation strategies of parasitoids. This study used the parasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and the Oriental leafworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as the parasitoids-host model system to investigate patch-leaving mechanisms as affected by the high-host density, hierarchical patch structure, and foraging behaviors on both former and current patches. The results showed that three out of eight covariates tested had significant effects on the patch-leaving tendency, including the host density, ovipositor insertion, and host rejection on the current patch. The parasitoid paid more visits to the patch with high-density hosts. While the patch with higher host densities decreased the leaving tendency, the spatial distribution of hosts examined had no effect on the leaving tendency. Both oviposition and host rejection decreased the patch-leaving tendency. The variables associated with the former patch, such as the host density and number of ovipositor insertions, however, did not have an effect on the leaving tendency. Our study suggested that M. pulchricornis females may use an incremental mechanism to exploit high-density patches to the fullest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Sheng
- College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Agricultural Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Eastern China Crop Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Sufang Feng
- College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Agricultural Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Eastern China Crop Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Ling Meng
- College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Agricultural Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Eastern China Crop Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Baoping Li
- College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Agricultural Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Eastern China Crop Pests Management Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
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Andersson P, Löfstedt C, Hambäck PA. Insect density-plant density relationships: a modified view of insect responses to resource concentrations. Oecologia 2013; 173:1333-44. [PMID: 23881513 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2737-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2012] [Accepted: 07/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Habitat area is an important predictor of spatial variation in animal densities. However, the area often correlates with the quantity of resources within habitats, complicating our understanding of the factors shaping animal distributions. We addressed this problem by investigating densities of insect herbivores in habitat patches with a constant area but varying numbers of plants. Using a mathematical model, predictions of scale-dependent immigration and emigration rates for insects into patches with different densities of host plants were derived. Moreover, a field experiment was conducted where the scaling properties of odour-mediated attraction in relation to the number of odour sources were estimated, in order to derive a prediction of immigration rates of olfactory searchers. The theoretical model predicted that we should expect immigration rates of contact and visual searchers to be determined by patch area, with a steep scaling coefficient, μ = -1. The field experiment suggested that olfactory searchers should show a less steep scaling coefficient, with μ ≈ -0.5. A parameter estimation and analysis of published data revealed a correspondence between observations and predictions, and density-variation among groups could largely be explained by search behaviour. Aphids showed scaling coefficients corresponding to the prediction for contact/visual searchers, whereas moths, flies and beetles corresponded to the prediction for olfactory searchers. As density responses varied considerably among groups, and variation could be explained by a certain trait, we conclude that a general theory of insect responses to habitat heterogeneity should be based on shared traits, rather than a general prediction for all species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petter Andersson
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden,
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Short- and long-range cues used by ground-dwelling parasitoids to find their host. Naturwissenschaften 2013; 100:177-84. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-1008-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2012] [Revised: 12/11/2012] [Accepted: 12/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Wajnberg E. Multi-objective behavioural mechanisms are adopted by foraging animals to achieve several optimality goals simultaneously. J Anim Ecol 2011; 81:503-11. [PMID: 22067022 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01926.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
1. Animals foraging for resources are under a variety of selective pressures, and separate optimality models have been developed predicting the optimal reproductive strategies they should adopt. 2. In most cases, the proximate behavioural mechanisms adopted to achieve such optimality goals have been identified. This is the case, for example, for optimal patch time and sex allocation in insect parasitoids. However, behaviours modelled within this framework have mainly been studied separately, even though real animals have to optimize some behaviours simultaneously. 3. For this reason, it would be better if proximate behavioural rules were designed to attain several goals simultaneously. Despite their importance, such multi-objective proximate rules remain to be discovered. 4. Based on experiments on insect parasitoids that simultaneously examine their optimal patch time and sex allocation strategies, it is shown here that animals can adopt multi-objective behavioural mechanisms that appear consistent with the two optimal goals simultaneously. 5. Results of computer simulations demonstrate that these behavioural mechanisms are indeed consistent with optimal reproductive strategies and have thus been most likely selected over the course of the evolutionary time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Wajnberg
- INRA, 400 Route des Chappes, BP 167, 06903 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France.
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Louâpre P, Pierre JS. Carbon dioxide narcosis modifies the patch leaving decision of foraging parasitoids. Anim Cogn 2011; 15:429-35. [PMID: 22042510 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-011-0464-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2011] [Accepted: 10/12/2011] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Gleaning information is a way for foragers to adjust their behavior in order to maximize their fitness. Information decreases the uncertainty about the environment and could help foragers to accurately estimate environmental characteristics. In a patchy resource, information sampled during previous patch visits is efficient only if it is retained in the memory and retrieved upon arrival in a new patch. In this study, we tested whether the braconid Asobara tabida, a parasitoid of Drosophila larvae, retains information gleaned on patch quality in the memory and adjusts its foraging behavior accordingly. Females were anesthetized with CO(2) after leaving a first patch containing a different number of hosts and were allowed to visit a second patch containing only kairomones. CO(2) is known to erase unconsolidated information from the memory. We show that in the absence of a short CO(2) narcosis, females responded according to their previous experience, whereas anesthetized females did not. The anesthetized females stayed a given time in the second patch irrespective of what they encountered before. CO(2) narcosis had no effect on the residence time of the non-experienced females in a patch containing hosts or only kairomones in comparison with the non-anesthetized females that had a previous foraging experience. We conclude that CO(2) narcosis erases the effect of the previous patch quality, perhaps due to a memory disruption. Direct information processing is likely to be involved in parasitoid decision making through retention of the information on the previous patch quality into a CO(2) sensitive memory.
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