AbstractVarious aspects were studied of the brood size and sex allocation strategies, and of size-fitness relationships in Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Marsh), a gregarious ectoparasitoid of Eoreuma loftini Dyar. Brood size was significantly correlated with host size; larger hosts were allocated larger broods. Brood sex ratios were fixed precisely at 1 male per 4 females, and eggs were likely to be deposited in that order; differential mortality did not contribute to this precise sex ratio. The sex allocation strategy of P. pyralophagus is likely to conform to strict, i.e. single foundress, local mate competition. Adoption of this strategy is probably influenced by a limited insemination capacity of males; a smaller proportion of females (0.09 vs. 0.21) remained virgin in broods with precise or higher sex ratios (≥0.20 males) relative to broods with lower than precise sex ratios (< 0.20 males). Moreover, all females were inseminated in most broods (60%) with precise or higher sex ratios, whereas this did not occur in broods with lower than precise sex ratios. The hypothesized occurrence of strict local mate competition in P. pyralophagus was supported also by observations that: (i) offspring brood sex ratios were independent of maternal brood sex ratios and number of parental females concurrently allocating offspring to a group of hosts, and; (ii) the rate of superparasitism under no-choice conditions was low (~20%), suggesting that rates of outbreeding in the field are low. Other results suggested that fitness in P. pyralophaguswas correlated with adult size; longevity and reproductive capacity both increased with adult size in males and females. However, adult size may be more important for females than for males because the differences in reproductive capacity between the largest and smallest individuals was up to 7.3 times greater in females versus <2 times in males.
摘要 研究了Parallorhogas pyralophagus(Marsh)(一种Eoreuma loftini Dyar的群集外寄生虫)的育雏大小、性别分配策略以及大小适配关系等各个方面。雏的大小与寄主的大小有明显的相关性;较大的寄主被分配到较大的雏。产卵性别比例精确地固定为1雄配4雌,卵很可能按此顺序产下;不同的死亡率不会导致这种精确的性别比例。P.pyralophagus的性别分配策略很可能符合严格的本地配偶竞争,即单一雌性。采用这种策略可能受到雄性授精能力有限的影响;相对于性别比低于精确值(0.20雄性)的雏鸟,性别比精确或较高(≥0.20雄性)的雏鸟中保持处女的雌性比例较小(0.09 vs. 0.21)。此外,在大多数(60%)性别比精确或更高的雏鸟中,所有雌鸟都接受了人工授精,而在性别比低于精确的雏鸟中则没有这种情况。以下观察结果也证明了栉水母存在严格的本地配偶竞争的假设:(i)子代育雏性别比与母代育雏性别比和同时将子代分配给一组宿主的亲代雌性数量无关;(ii)无选择条件下的超级寄生率很低(约 20%),这表明野外繁殖率很低。其他结果表明,栉水母的适应性与成虫体型有关;雌雄成虫的寿命和繁殖能力都随着成虫体型的增加而增加。不过,成体大小对雌性可能比对雄性更重要,因为最大个体和最小个体之间的繁殖能力差异,雌性是雄性的7.3倍,而雄性是雌性的2倍。