The enemy of your enemy’s enemy: Host location of hyperparasitoids in multitrophic complexity

Summary

Biological control, using the natural enemies of herbivorous insects like parasitoid wasps, provides a sustainable solution to combat pests in agriculture. However, its effectiveness is threatened by hyperparasitoids, which prey on the juvenile stages of these beneficial parasitoids. In my thesis I investigated the cues that hyperparasitoids use to locate their inconspicuous parasitoid host and the mechanisms that occur behind this. I focused on the role of herbivore induced plant volatiles when hyperparasitoids forage on a longer range and I explore the body odours of (parasitized) herbivores and their (microbial) origin when foraging on a shorter range. Taken together, my PhD thesis highlights how parasitism can alter the phenotype of herbivores and subsequently plants. This interaction network then provides hyperparasitoids with an arsenal of cues to locate their host.