Adaptive preferential selection of young coccinellid hosts by the parasitoid wasp Dinocampus coccinellae (Hymenoptera : Braconidae)

Dinocampus coccinellae females which eclose in mid-summer have the opportun ity to oviposit in overwintered or in newly eclosed coccinellid hosts. Give n the short further longevity of overwintered hosts, offspring fitness woul d be increased by ovipositing preferentially in young hosts. Laboratory cho ice tests show that female D. coccinellae do exhibit such a preference.