Abstract
Host selection and infection strategies of parasitoids often correlate
with high parental investment and low numbers of progeny. In this
study, we investigate how additional internal mechanisms might shape
brood size and fitness of the offspring. Emblemasoma auditrix is a
parasitoid fly in which about 38 larvae hatch simultaneously in utero.
After host location, a single larva is deposited into the host, where
it rapidly develops and pupates after about 5 days. The search for
hosts can take several weeks, and during that time, the larvae arrest
their development and remain in the first larval instar. Nevertheless,
the larvae increase in weight within the uterus, and this growth
correlates to a decrease in the number of larvae, although no larvae
are deposited. Thus, our data indicate a first case of prenatal
cannibalism in an invertebrate with larvae feeding on each other within
the uterus of the adult.
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