Foraging strategies in solitary parasitoids: The trade-off between female and offspring mortality risks

Summary It is often assumed that oviposition rate is the currency that parasitoids should maximize in order to maximize reproductive success. Female parasitoids foraging in a patchy environment face a variety of mortality risks that influence the survival of both themselves and their offspring. Maximizing oviposition rate ignores these risks. A model is developed to analyse the influence of female and offspring mortality risks on optimal patch residence time in time-limited solitary parasitoids. The optimal compromize between minimizing a female's own mortality risks and the mortality risks of her offspring in characterized. The optimal patch residence time is shown to be dependent on the relative magnitude of these mortality risks, as well as the rate with which reproductive success accumulates while on a patch. If travel time between patches is not fixed but a random variable, the optimal patch residence time decreases. However, variability in travel time increases expectations of total reproductive success. The model is illustrated with a case study in two aphid parasitoids.