Variation between laboratory populations of Encarsia formosa in their parasitization behavior on the host Bemisia tabaci

We tested the hypothesis that two populations of the parasitoid Encarsia formosa Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) differed in their behavioral interactions with the whitefly host Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). The two wasp populations were studied because previous work suggested large differences between the populations in performance on this host. In this study the populations differed behaviorally in both the number of hosts encountered and their reactions to hosts once encountered. The population reared for many years on Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) that previously performed more poorly on B. tabaci had a higher host encounter rate but rejected hosts more frequently. The population reared for a number of years on B. tabaci encountered fewer hosts but accepted a higher percentage of hosts for oviposition. The number of parasitized hosts did not differ between the two populations, however. These data demonstrate that there are heritable differences between these two populations of asexual wasps in host-associated behavioral traits. These behavioral differences in host acceptance do not explain performance differences seen in the earlier study, however, possibly due to different conditions between the two experiments.