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Not to be confused with hyperparasitism.

Superparasitism occurs when a female parasitoid oviposits in a host that has already been parasitized before by a member of the same species. This usually results in intraspecific competition among the offspring of the parasitoids, resulting in some of them not surviving to adulthood or poorer development. Multiparasitism is a term that refers to a related occurrence where a host is parasitized by more than one parasitoid species, resulting in interspecific competition among their offspring.

Occurrences of superparasitism were typically once thought to be errors, but research shows that under certain conditions, superparasitism would be the best option for parasitoids and an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS).

Terminology and history

The first published observation of parasitoids ovipositing in already-parasitized hosts was made in 1897 by American entomologist Leland Ossian Howard, who observed a wasp superparasitize the moth Orgyia leucostigma. In 1910, William F. Fiske coined the term superparasitism

There are two distinct categories of superparasitism. The first type is self-superparasitism, where the host has been parasitized more than once by the same parasitoid. The second type is known as conspecific superparasitism or intraspecific superparasitism, where the host is parasitized by more than once by the same species of parasitoid.

Consequences

The consequences of superparasitism vary between gregarious parasitoids and solitary parasitoids. By gregarious parasitoids, who usually oviposit many eggs in one parasitization, superparasitism results in

Situations where superparasitism is advantageous

Despite the drawbacks of larval competition and the fact that parasitoids do have the ability to avoid superparasitization, there are certain cases where the best option for the female would be to oviposit even in a parasitized host. Such cases are when the female's egg supply is not limited and the host population is low.

Avoidance

The ability of parasitoids to distinguish between parasitized hosts from unparasitized ones is known as host discrimination. This ability is present in certain species of parasitoids and is used to avoid superparasitism and thus competition from other parasites.

Bibliography

• Bakker, K.; van Alphen, J. J. M.; van Batenburg, F. H. D.; van der Hoeven, N.; Nell, H. W.; van Strien-van Liempt, W. T. F. H.; Turlings, T. C. J. (December 1985). "The function of host discrimination and superparasitization in parasitoids". Oecologia. 67 (4): 572–576. doi:10.1007/BF00790029. PMID 28311043. S2CID 22973791.
• Dorn, S.; Beckage, N. E. (September 2007). "Superparasitism in gregarious hymenopteran parasitoids: ecological, behavioural and physiological perspectives". Physiological Entomology. 32 (3): 199–211. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3032.2007.00576.x. S2CID 83709379.
• Fisher, R. C. (June 1961). "A Study in Insect Multiparasitism: I. Host Selection and Oviposition" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Biology. 38 (2): 267–275. doi:10.1242/jeb.38.2.267.
• Gandon, S.; Rivero, A.; Varaldi, J. (January 2006). "Superparasitism Evolution: Adaptation or Manipulation?". The American Naturalist. 167 (1): E1–E22. doi:10.1086/498398. PMID 16475093. S2CID 4072991.
• Godfray, H. C. J. (1994). Parasitoids: Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology. Monographs in Behavior and Ecology. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691000473.
• Speirs, D. C.; Sherratt, T. N.; Hubbard, Stephen F. (January 1991). "Parasitoid diets: Does superparasitism pay?". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 6 (1): 22–25. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(91)90143-L. PMID 21232415.
• van Alphen, J.J.M.; Visser, M.E. (January 1990). "Superparasitism as an Adaptive Strategy for Insect Parasitoids". Annual Review of Entomology. 35 (1): 59–79. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.35.010190.000423. PMID 2405774.
• van Dijken, M. J.; Waage, J. K. (1987). "Self and conspecific superparasitism by the egg parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 43 (2): 183–192. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1987.tb03604.x. S2CID 86177716.
• Wajnberg, E.; Bernstein, C.; Alphen, J. van (2008). Behavioural Ecology of Insect Parasitoids: From Theoretical Approaches to Field Applications. Wiley. ISBN 9781405163477.
• White, J. A.; Andow, D.A. (August 2008). "Benefits of self-superparasitism in a polyembryonic parasitoid". Biological Control. 46 (2): 133–139. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2008.04.005. PMC 4185207. PMID 25288870.

Category:Parasitology