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Article
Lethal Interactions Between Parasites and Prey Increase Niche Diversity in a Tropical Community
Science
  • Marty A. Condon, Cornell College
  • Sonja J. Scheffer, United States Department of Agriculture
  • Matthew L. Lewis, United States Department of Agriculture
  • Robert Wharton, Texas A&M University - College Station
  • Dean C. Adams, Iowa State University
  • Andrew A. Forbes, University of Iowa
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
3-1-2014
DOI
10.1126/science.1245007
Abstract

Ecological specialization should minimize niche overlap, yet herbivorous neotropical flies (Blepharoneura) and their lethal parasitic wasps (parasitoids) exhibit both extreme specialization and apparent niche overlap in host plants. From just two plant species at one site in Peru, we collected 3636 flowers yielding 1478 fly pupae representing 14 Blepharoneura fly species, 18 parasitoid species (14 Bellopius species), and parasitoid-host associations, all discovered through analysis of molecular data. Multiple sympatric species specialize on the same sex flowers of the same fly host-plant species—which suggests extreme niche overlap; however, niche partitioning was exposed by interactions between wasps and flies. Most Bellopius species emerged as adults from only one fly species, yet evidence from pupae (preadult emergence samples) show that most Bellopiusalso attacked additional fly species but never emerged as adults from those flies.

Comments

This article is from Science 343 (2014): 1240, doi:10.1126/science.1245007.

Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Marty A. Condon, Sonja J. Scheffer, Matthew L. Lewis, Robert Wharton, et al.. "Lethal Interactions Between Parasites and Prey Increase Niche Diversity in a Tropical Community" Science Vol. 343 Iss. 6176 (2014) p. 1240 - 1244
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/dean-adams/10/