A really complex interaction between plant host, fungus, moth, and parasitoid

[Anne Kilmer]

Stanley A. Gorodenski wrote:

 > You said: "How does the moth know this?"  Maybe it doesn't. If there
 >  is no fungus, the imatures are more successful in not being seen
 > by the parasitoid (this follows from what you have said). As a
 > result, the parasitoids will spend less time on plants that don't
 > have the fungus because they cannot find the larvae. The adult moth
 >  may be queing off the abundance of parasitoids flying around a
 > plant while it itself is looking for a suitable plant upon which to
 >  lay eggs.
 >
 > I am just basing this upon my understanding of what you wrote. Maybe more
 >  information is needed to come up with a better hypothesis.
 >
 > Stan
 >
In my experience, stuff infected by fungus (mold etc.) has a different 
taste from uninfected food. Might this not apply here? The mother moth 
surely "tastes" the plant before ovipositing.
just speculation ...
Anne Kilmer


 
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