Host-plant species conservatism and ecology of a parasitoid fig wasp genus (Chalcidoidea; Sycoryctinae; Arachonia).

ABSTRACT: Parasitoid diversity in terrestrial ecosystems is enormous. However, ecological processes underpinning their evolutionary diversification in association with other trophic groups are still unclear. Specialisation and interdependencies among chalcid wasps that reproduce on Ficus presents an opportunity to investigate the ecology of a multi-trophic system that includes parasitoids. Here we estimate the host-plant species specificity of a parasitoid fig wasp genus that attacks the galls of non-pollinating pteromalid and pollinating agaonid fig wasps. We discuss the interactions between parasitoids and the Ficus species present in a forest patch of Uganda in context with populations in Southern Africa. Haplotype networks are inferred to examine intraspecific mitochondrial DNA divergences and p

SUBMITTER: McLeish MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3438170 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature