The majority of B. gigas and T. californicus emerged in 2008, the year after gall collection. C. latiferreana and B. nucicola showed a second peak of emergence in 2008. Fig. 2 Emergence time series of the gall inducer (A. quercuscalifornicus), its parasites (E. californica, B. gigas, T. californicus), and the inquiline/parasite

of inquiline (C. latiferreana/B. nucicola). Mature oak apple galls were placed in sealed cups in June–July 2007. Galls were checked VS-4718 every 2 days from July 2007–Dec 2007, and emerged insects were noted. Galls were checked less frequently from Jan 2008–Jan 2009, and data were grouped into 2 batches during this time Discussion A. quercuscalifornicus galls are used www.selleckchem.com/products/CP-673451.html by a community of insects that include parasitoids, inquilines, parasitoids of inquilines, and transient occupants (Table 1). Different characteristics of galls correlate with the abundance of some of the most common insects that OICR-9429 supplier inhabit the galls. Different parasitoids tended to be found in galls of different sizes or from different locations (Tables 2, 3). The dominant inquiline of galls (C. latiferreana) and its major parasitoid (B. nucicola) were found more often in galls that developed early in the summer as opposed to in galls that emerged early in the summer (Tables 2, 3). While each of these observations is correlative, they are consistent with a pattern of differential niche-use of the gall by parasitoids

and inquilines across gall morphology, location, and time. The subdivision of the environment into fine-scale niches is a long-standing explanation for the co-existence of ecologically similar species (Hutchinson 1959), and niche differentiation may account for the diversity of parasitoids associated with gall wasps. Indeed, Bailey et al. (2009) found that gall traits predicted the composition of the gall’s community of parasites.

But what components of parasites’ natural histories drive their association with particular gall traits, phenology, or biogeography? Why do some insects in the gall associate with galls with different sizes or phenologies? Torymids tend to be found more often in smaller galls than in larger galls (Table 2). buy Atezolizumab Previous studies have shown that gall chambers that are close to the exterior wall of the gall are more susceptible to parasitism as many parasitoids are limited by the length of their ovipositor (but see Craig et al. 1990; Jones 1983; Marchosky and Craig 2004; Weis et al. 1985). If torymid parasitoids are limited in the galls that they can attack by ovipositor length (i.e. young galls, which are smaller), and attack by a torymid limits gall development by killing the gall-inducer, then torymids such as T. californica should emerge more frequently from smaller galls. Interestingly, T. californicus and T. tubicola were the only parasitoids with long, external ovipositors that emerged from A.