Abstract
Females of the polyphagous, ichneumonid ectoparasitoid, Exeristes roborator(F.), learned the form of artificial host microhabitats in the laboratory. Females given hosts only in a microhabitat of one form subsequently concentrated their responses on this microhabitat when given a choice between it and a microhabitat of another form, neither of which contained hosts. Control females did not display similar preferences. The parasitoid did not appear to distinguish the form of a microhabitat until after it contacted it. When hosts were present in test microhabitats, learning of form was apparently overridden, possibly because the parasitoids detected the presence of hosts before they assessed form or because their responses were shaped by learning of host-related factors. Together with learning of other microhabitat characteristics, learning of form may contribute to recognition of plant structures that are likely to contain suitable hosts by E. roborator.
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Wardle, A.R., Borden, J.H. Learning of host microhabitat form byExeristes roborator (F.) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). J Insect Behav 3, 251–263 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01417916
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01417916