Stefanescu, Constanti, Askew, R R, Corbera, J and Shaw, Mark R (Research Associate) (2012) Parasitism and migration in southern Palaearctic populations of the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). European Journal of Entomology, 109. pp. 85-94. ISSN 1802-8829

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Abstract

The painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae) is well known for its seasonal long-distance migrations and for its dramatic population fluctuations between years. Although parasitism has occasionally been noted as an important mortality factor for this butterfly, no comprehensive study has quantified and compared its parasitoid complexes in different geographical areas or seasons. In 2009, a year when this butterfly was extraordinarily abundant in the western Palaearctic, we assessed the spatial and temporal variation in larval parasitism in central Morocco (late winter and autumn) and north-east Spain (spring and late summer). The primary parasitoids in the complexes comprised a few relatively specialized koinobionts that are a regular and important mortality factor in the host populations. However, there was a strong seasonal variation in the level of parasitism. In Spain percentage parasitism was more than four times higher in late summer than in spring (77.3% vs. 18%), while in Morocco it was five times higher by the end of winter than in the autumn (66.2% vs. 13.2%). In both regions the build up of parasitoid populations occurred after V. cardui had bred in the same general area over successive generations, and this may represent a selective force favouring seasonal migration to enemy-free space.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Full text version freely available at the official URL
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, population dynamics, seasonal migration, enemy-free space, primary parasitoids, Cotesia vanessae, secondary parasitoids
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Theme:	Understanding the natural world
Department:	Natural Sciences
Related URLs:	Organisation
Depositing User:	Users 15 not found.
Date Deposited:	21 Apr 2013 13:56
Last Modified:	17 Jul 2015 12:43
URI:	http://repository.nms.ac.uk/id/eprint/967

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