9707759 Henter The proposed research will examine the degree of local adaptation in resource use within and between natural populations of a parasitic insect over two different ecological scales. The investigator will determine whether parasitoid populations are equally well adapted to 1) different beetle host species on the same plant species, and 2) the same beetle host species on different plant species. Quantitative genetic techniques will be used to test the null hypothesis that the parasitoid Uscana semifumipennis is a generalist across these environments. Reciprocal transplant experiments will allow examination of the whole suite of characters involved in the parasitization process. This information will be placed in an ecological context through examination of the temporal distribution of the different hosts in their natural environment. To understand the factors affecting parasitization, selection on parasitoids by their hosts will be measured. This information will improve our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics between host and parasitoid populations, and will assist biological control workers and conservationists in their assessment of the lability of host associations in entomophagous species.
