Lethal male-male combat in the parasitoid Melittobia acasta: are size and competitive environment important?

Journal article

Interactions between organisms can lie anywhere along the spectrum from fatal conflict to total cooperation. To understand this variation, knowledge of the strategies that individuals use to acquire their resources is required. We tested theoretical predictions relating to conflict behaviour in a species of parasitoid wasp, Melittobia acasta, in which males compete for mates in their closed, natal patches. They engage in lethal combat to gain access to the females developing in their host. En...

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Authors: Reece, SE; Innocent, T; West, SA

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
• Volume: 74
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1163-1169
• Publication date: 2007-11-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.10.027
• ISSN: 0003-3472
• Language: English
• Keywords: parasitoid; competition; body size; operational sex ratio; Melittobia acasta; lethal combat