FLEXIBLE PATCH TIME ALLOCATION BY THE LEAFMINER PARASITOID, OPIUS-DIMIDIATUS

1. The ability to use flexible decision rules can be an advantage to parasitoid females searching for patchily-distributed hosts. In a series of laboratory experiments the hypothesis that Opius dimidiatus, a solitary parasitoid of the chrysanthemum leafminer (Liriomyza trifolii), adjusts the time she allocates to searching for her larval hosts in response to both patch qualities and experiences with hosts was tested by varying such patch parameters as area, presence of host mines and density of host mines, and by allowing ovipositions and encounters with parasitized hosts. 2. Though leaf area was not a factor, the presence of host mines in a leaf did increase the time a female O.dimidiatus spent searching, over time spent on unmined leaves. 3. When host mine density was increased, females responded by increasing their search period in a density-dependent manner, suggesting a perception of patch quality. 4. Ovipositions in hosts caused females to reset their 'giving-up time' (GUT), or increase search intensity, by adding an amount of search time that increased with each successive oviposition. Conversely, encounters with parasitized (unsuitable) hosts incremented the GUT, but by an amount that decreased with each successive encounter.