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Positive and negative effects of phoretic mites on the reproductive output of an invasive bark beetle

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journal contribution
posted on 2010-09-01, 00:00 authored by L Hodgkin, M Elgar, Matthew SymondsMatthew Symonds
When multiple species coexist upon a single host, their combined effect on the host can be unpredictable. We explored the effect of phoretic mites on the reproductive output of the five-spined bark beetle, Ips grandicollis. Using correlative approaches and experimental manipulation of mite numbers we examined how mite load affected the number, size and condition of bark beetle offspring produced. We found that mites have both negative and positive consequences on different aspects of bark beetle reproduction. Females from which mites were removed were more fecund and produced larger offspring than females with mites, implying a cost of mite loads. However, when mites were present on females, those bearing the highest mite loads produced offspring that were larger and in better condition, indicating a beneficial effect of mites. These data suggest that phoretic interactions between mites and bark beetles differ over the course of the host’s lifespan, with either the mites interacting in different ways with different life stages of the host (parasitic on adult, mutualistic with larvae), and/or the beetles being host to different mite assemblages over their lifetime.

History

Journal

Australian journal of zoology

Volume

58

Issue

3

Pagination

198 - 204

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

Location

Collingwood, Vic.

ISSN

0004-959X

eISSN

1446-5698

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2010, CSIRO