Life history of insect parasitoids involved in successful multiparasitism.

The occurrence of multiple parasitoid emergence from individual hosts was observed on numerous occasions. Characteristically such a phenomenon is extremely rare. In the observed instances of successful multiple parasitism of Autographa californica the parasitoid life history attributes of partial host consumption, gregariousness and timing of host parasitism are suggested as traits which contributed to certain species being able to coexist within individual hosts.