HOST-SEARCHING BEHAVIOR OF VENTURIA-CANESCENS (GRAV) (HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE) - SUPERPARASITISM

The foraging behavior of Venturia canescens, a solitary endoparasitoid of lepidopteran larvae, was investigated in the laboratory. Female Ve nturia canescens with a larger number of mature eggs to lay were found to have higher levels of superparasitism (measured as numbers of eggs laid per parasitized host). Increased parasitoid density was found to result in reduced levels of superparasitism by host-deprived (i.e., u ndepleted) wasps. Females which had been allowed access to hosts befor e the experiment (depleted wasps) laid fewer eggs per parasitized host than undepleted wasps, although there was no significant difference i n the levels of superparasitism among the depletion periods of 1, 2, 5 , and 7 h. It was also found that an egg which was encountered less th an 15 min after oviposition was much less likely to be avoided than on e which was encountered after more than 15 min had elapsed.