Long & Medium Term Research: Foraging and Sex Allocation Behavior of an Autoparasitoid in a Spatially-Structured Environment

中长期研究：空间结构环境下类自寄生蜂的觅食和性别分配行为。该奖项是在国外卓越中心长期和中期研究计划下推荐的。该项目旨在使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外被证明卓越的研究机构进行长期研究。奖项提供进行联合研究的机会，并采用独特或完整的方法。国外设备、专业知识和实验条件基本。该奖项由David Pimentel博士赞助，将支持Martha S. Hunter博士赴英国进行为期六个半月的博士后研究访问，与希尔伍德公园帝国学院的H.C.J. Godfray博士合作，研究“空间结构宿主环境中类自寄生动物的觅食和性别分配行为”。被称为“自寄生蜂”的寄生蜂提供了一个独特的机会来检验费雪（1930）关于性别比例进化的理论。Fisher的原理是生物体对两性的投资应该相等，这通常导致1:1的性别比例。然而，在类自寄生体中，雄性和雌性在不同的宿主中产卵；因此，每个性别的“成本”和预测的性别比例随着宿主环境的变化而变化。在高寄主密度时，黄蜂应限卵，并倾向于在数量较少的寄主类型中产卵，从而产生接近1:1的性比。在低寄主密度的情况下，黄蜂的寄主数量应该是有限的，遇到寄主就在寄主体内产卵，从而产生一个反映两种寄主相对丰度的性比。研究者建议在空间结构的宿主环境中，用三色自寄生蜂Encarsia来测试Fisher理论的延伸。特别是，她将评估两种寄主类型的相对可用性、寄主总密度和寄主种群的空间结构对性别比的影响。由于性别分配是决定类自寄生蜂种群动态的核心，本研究将有助于弥合性别比例理论与种群动态之间的差距，并有助于评估类自寄生蜂物种作为生物防治剂的作用。奖励建议提供资金，酌情支付国际旅行，本地旅行，津贴，家属津贴（如果适用），以及美国本土机构250美元的固定行政津贴。

Long & Medium-Term Research: Foraging and Sex Allocation Behavior of An Autoparasitoid in A Spatially-Structured Environment. This award recommendation is made under the Program for Long & Medium-Term Research at Foreign Centers of Excellence. The program seeks to enable U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct long-term research abroad at research institutions of proven excellence. Awards provide opportunities for the conduct of joint research, and the use of unique or comple. mentary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions in foreign countries. This award for a proposal sponsored by Dr. David Pimentel will support a six-and-one-half month-post-doctoral research visit to the United Kingdom by Dr. Martha S. Hunter to work with Dr. H.C.J. Godfray at the Imperial College at Silwood Park, on "Foraging and Sex Allocation Behavior of An Autoparasitoid in A Spatially-Structured Host Environment." Parasitic wasps called "autoparasitoids" offer a unique opportunity to test Fisher's (1930) theory on the evolution of the sex ratio. Fisher's principle that organisms should invest equally in each sex generally leads to a 1:1 sex ratio. In autoparasitoids, however, males and females are laid in different hosts; thus the "cost" of each sex and the predicted sex ratio varies with the changing host environment. At high total host densities, wasps should be egg-limited, and prefer to oviposit in the less abundant host type, thus producing a sex ratio which is close to 1:1. At low host densities, wasps should be host-limited and simply oviposit in hosts as they encounter them, thus producing a sex ratio which reflects the relative abundance of the two host types. The investigator proposes to test this extension of Fisher's theory with the autoparasitoid Encarsia tricolor in a spatially structured host environment. In particular, she will evaluate the effects of the relative availability of the two host types, total host density, and spatial structure of the host population on sex ratio. Since sex allocation is central in determining the population dynamics of autoparasi- toids, this research will help bridge the gap between sex ratio theory and population dynamics, and will contribute to evaluating autoparasitoid species as biological control agents. The award recommendation provides funds to cover, as appropriate, international travel, local travel abroad, stipend, dependents' allowance if applicable, and a flat administrative allowance of $250 for the U.S. home institution.