Host species differences in the thermal mismatch of host-parasitoid interactions.

ABSTRACT: Extreme high temperatures associated with climate change can affect species directly, and indirectly through temperature-mediated species interactions. In most host-parasitoid systems, parasitization inevitably kills the host, but differences in heat tolerance between host and parasitoid, and between different hosts, may alter their interactions. Here, we explored the effects of extreme high temperatures on the ecological outcomes - including, in some rare cases, escape from the developmental disruption of parasitism - of the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia congregata, and two co-occurring congeneric larval hosts, Manduca sexta and M. quinquemaculata. Both host species had higher thermal tolerance than C. congregata, resulting in a thermal mismatch characterized by parasitoid (but not host) morta

SUBMITTER: Malinski KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10323234 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature