Eur. J. Entomol. 97 (3): 313-322, 2000 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2000.048

Life history correlates and reproductive biology of Laelius pedatus (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) in The Netherlands

Peter J. MAYHEW1,2, Wijnand R.B. HEITMANS1
1 Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, University of Leiden, Kaiserstraat 63, P.O. Box 9516, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
2 1Department of Biology, University of York, P.O. Box 373, York YO10 5YW, UK; e-mail: pjm19@york.ac.uk

Bethylid wasps are a medium sized family of parasitic Hymenoptera, with biological control potential, which have recently proved excellent model systems for testing evolutionary and life history theory. We report observations on a species of Laelius from The Netherlands. The species is morphologically indistinguishable from Laelius pedatus, previously reported only from the New World. Reciprocal crosses between the Dutch wasps and L. pedatus from Madison, Wisconsin, USA confirmed that the Dutch population belongs to L. pedatus. We compared the life history of the Dutch wasps with those from Madison by rearing them on Trogoderma glabrum, but found no significant differences. The Dutch wasps successfully parasitize Trogoderma angustum, an invasive museum and domestic pest found in situ, but suffer high developmental mortality on T. glabrum. Wasp egg size was positively correlated with the size of ovipositing female, which was also negatively correlated with the developmental mortality of offspring. Larger wasps also carried more mature eggs. Time taken to lay the clutch increased with the size of the eventual clutch laid and was longer in unmated than mated females. When some wasps died before completing development, surviving members of the brood grew to a larger size and took longer to complete development. The number of males per brood increased with previous oviposition experience, an indication of sperm depletion through life. We discuss the implications of these trends for parasitoid life history theory.

Keywords: Laelius pedatus, Bethylidae, Hymenoptera, parasitoid, clutch size, sex ratio, geographic range, Trogoderma angustum, Trogoderma glabrum, life history, development, reproduction

Received: December 6, 1999; Accepted: May 3, 2000; Published: October 30, 2000  Show citation

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MAYHEW, P.J., & HEITMANS, W.R.B. (2000). Life history correlates and reproductive biology of Laelius pedatus (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) in The Netherlands. EJE, 97(3), 313-322. doi: 10.14411/eje.2000.048
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