Competitive interactions between parasitoid larvae and the evolution of gregarious development.

We report experiments using two closely related species of alysiine braconids directed at understanding how gregarious development evolved in one subfamily of parasitoid wasps. Theoretical models predict that once siblicide between parasitoid wasps has evolved, it can only be lost under stringent conditions, making the transition from solitary to gregarious development exiguous. Phylogenetic studies indicate, however, that gregariousness has independently arisen on numerous occasions. New theoretical models have demonstrated that if gregarious development involves reductions in larval mobility, rather than a lack of fighting ability (as in the older models), the evolution of gregariousness is much more likely. We tested the predictions of the older tolerance models (gregariousness based on non-fighting larval phenotypes) and the reduced mobility models (gregariousness based on non-searching larval phenotypes) by observing larval movement and the outcome of interspecific competition between Aphaereta genevensis (solitary) and A. pallipes (gregarious) under multiparasitism. Differences in larval mobility matched the prediction of the reduced mobility model of gregarious development, with the solitary A. genevensis having larvae that are much more mobile. The proportion of hosts producing the solitary species significantly declined after subsequent exposure to females of the gregarious species. This contradicts the prediction of the older models (fighting vs non-fighting phenotypes), under which any competitive interactions between solitary and gregarious larvae will result in a highly asymmetrical outcome, as the solitary species should be competitively superior. The observed outcome of interspecific competition offers evidence, with respect to this subfamily, in favour of the new models (searching vs non-searching phenotypes).