The evolution of body size, antennal size and host use in parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea): a phylogenetic comparative analysis.

ABSTRACT: Chalcidoid wasps represent one of the most speciose superfamilies of animals known, with ca. 23,000 species described of which many are parasitoids. They are extremely diverse in body size, morphology and, among the parasitoids, insect hosts. Parasitic chalcidoids utilise a range of behavioural adaptations to facilitate exploitation of their diverse insect hosts, but how host use might influence the evolution of body size and morphology is not known in this group. We used a phylogenetic comparative analysis of 126 chalcidoid species to examine whether body size and antennal size showed evolutionary correlations with aspects of host use, including host breadth (specificity), host identity (orders of insects parasitized) and number of plant associates. Both morphological features and identit

SUBMITTER: Symonds MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3818564 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature