2026-10-14T07:05:21Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33990580 2026-09-24T19:31:20Z category_24214 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Data for "Host range versus host efficiency: Testing the specialist–generalist trade-off in parasitoid wasps" Ellen Martinson (3815011) Behavioural ecology Parasitoid wasp Nasonia host-switching specialist–generalist trade-off sex ratio venom <p dir="ltr">The specialist–generalist trade-off predicts that generalists benefit from a wider host range but suffer reduced efficiency on any individual host compared to specialists. Parasitoid wasps may be especially subject to this trade-off, as successful parasitism requires both precise venom-mediated manipulation of host physiology and larval evasion of host immune defenses, which could vary considerably across a broad host range. However, direct tests of this trade-off in parasitoids remain scarce. Here, we compare two closely related ectoparasitoids that differ markedly in host breadth: the Diptera specialist <i>Nasonia vitripennis</i> and the true generalist <i>Trichomalopsis sarcophagae</i> (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Despite over a decade of exclusive laboratory rearing on a single host, <i>T. sarcophagae</i> successfully parasitized six of seven tested host species spanning three insect orders across four generations, including the first laboratory documentation of coleopteran parasitism in this species, however it was not successful on a second coleopteran host. Contrary to the simple trade-off prediction, <i>T. sarcophagae</i> matched or exceeded <i>N. vitripennis</i> in envenomation rate on all three shared dipteran hosts and showed a wider window of successful envenomation across host pupal development. However, the specialist produced more offspring per successful parasitism event and fewer all-male clutches on one shared host, revealing a reproductive cost of generalism not evident from envenomation rate alone. Together, these results suggest that host range in this generalist ectoparasitoid may be constrained less by physiological compatibility than by behavioral host acceptance and that generalism can carry a reproductive cost even when host acceptance and envenomation succeed.</p> 2026-09-24T19:31:20Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33990580.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_for_Host_range_versus_host_efficiency_Testing_the_specialist_generalist_trade-off_in_parasitoid_wasps_/33990580 CC BY 4.0