Host-parasitoid association and diffuse coevolution: when to be a generalist?

The American Naturalist
Laurent Lapchin

Abstract

In host-parasitoid communities, hosts are subjected to selective pressures from numerous parasitoid species, and parasitoids may attack several host species. The specificity of host resistance and parasitoid virulence is thus a key factor in host-parasitoid coevolution. A continuum of strategies exists, from strict specificity to a generalist strategy. The optimal level of specificity may differ in host and parasitoid. I investigated the optimal level of resistance specificity using a model in which the host could be attacked by two parasitoid species, with variable levels of defense specificity. The fitness of a parasitoid attacking two host species with different levels of virulence specificity was also modeled. Finally, a fluctuating environment was simulated by introducing variable probabilities of encounters between antagonistic species over several generations. If the frequency of encounters with the antagonistic species is fixed, then both host and parasitoid gain from a strategy of exclusive specialization toward the most frequent antagonist. If the frequency of encounters fluctuates between generations, generalist host resistance and partially specialist parasitoid virulence are favored. Generalist host resistance may ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 2, 2013·Journal of Insect Science·Luciana Elizalde, Patricia Julia Folgarait
Jan 30, 2014·Environmental Entomology·Masahito T Kimura, Awit Suwito
Nov 10, 2012·Ecology and Evolution·Erin ChungMichael E Hood
May 7, 2016·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Tsukushi KamiyaG Sander van Doorn
May 11, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Robert L Unckless, Brian P Lazzaro
Nov 25, 2003·Nature Reviews. Genetics·George K Roderick, Maria Navajas
Jun 25, 2021·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Anurag A Agrawal, Xuening Zhang

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