Evolution of parasitoid host preference and performance in response to an invasive host acting as evolutionary trap.

ABSTRACT: The invasion of a novel host species can create a mismatch in host choice and offspring survival (performance) when native parasitoids attempt to exploit the invasive host without being able to circumvent its resistance mechanisms. Invasive hosts can therefore act as evolutionary trap reducing parasitoids' fitness and this may eventually lead to their extinction. Yet, escape from the trap can occur when parasitoids evolve behavioral avoidance or a physiological strategy compatible with the trap host, resulting in either host-range expansion or a complete host-shift. We developed an individual based model to investigate which conditions promote parasitoids to evolve behavioral preference that matches their performance, including host-trap avoidance, and which conditions lead to adaptations

SUBMITTER: Kruitwagen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9251845 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature