Eur. J. Entomol. 94 (1): 75-82, 1997
Site-specific effects of parasitism on water balance and lipid content of the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)
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The site of parasitism on a host selected by the ectoparasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis affected the water composition of developing larvae. Second instar wasp larvae developing on anteriorly-parasitized pharate adults of Sarcophaga bullata contained 12% more water by mass than wasps feeding on the posterior end of the fly. Similar differences, although less pronounced, were detected in third instar larvae and are attributed to a greater dry weight (fat). Regardless of the amount of fat present in wasp larvae, rates of water loss and oxygen consumption were the same. This suggests that variation in parasitoid fat content did not contribute to water conservation. Parasitism resulted in an elevation in the hemolymph and fat body lipid content of Salcophaga bullata, but the induced-hyperlipaemia was most pronounced in posteriorly-parasitized flies. Wasp larvae reared on the latter type of host contained the most extractable lipid, implying that variation in parasitoid Eat content simply reflects differences in host composition. Differences in the quantity of host lipids did not alter the duration of parasitoid development.
Keywords: Water balance, larval development, wasp venom, ectoparasitoid, lipid accumulation, Sarcophaga bullata, Nasonia vitripennis
Accepted: February 6, 1996; Published: March 10, 1997 Show citation
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