Ar. Kraaijeveld et Jjm. Vanalphen, GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION IN ENCAPSULATION ABILITY OF DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER LARVAE AND EVIDENCE FOR PARASITOID-SPECIFIC COMPONENTS, Evolutionary ecology, 9(1), 1995, pp. 10-17
The ability of Drosophila melanogaster larvae in Europe to encapsulate
the eggs of their most important parasitoids, Asobara tabida and Lept
opilina boulardi, shows a large amount of geographical variation. Inte
restingly, encapsulation ability against A. tabida is not correlated w
ith encapsulation ability against L. boulardi. This indicates that the
encapsulation system of D. melanogaster larvae has parasitoid-specifi
c components. The variation in encapsulation ability can only partly b
e explained by the incidence of parasitism on the larvae. This means t
hat factors other than the two parasitoid species must be selection pr
essures on the encapsulation ability of D. melanogaster larvae.