Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Containing Papers of a Biological Character · 1934 · 100 citations · 2 references
Life SciencesBiologyEntomologyInsect EcologyParasite EcologyParasitologyArthropod ParasitologyHost SpecificityHost-parasite AssociationsHost-parasite InteractionsParasitoid BiologyParasitoid EcologyExperimental StudiesParasitismParasitism MechanismsParasitoid Host SpecificityParasitoid PhysiologyParasitoid-parasitoid Interactions
Abstract The group of parasites known as parasitoids nourish themselves on the tissues of their host and eventually entirely devour it. It follows that the number of parasitoids that can and sufficient nourishment to complete their development on a single host is strictly limited. Most species, indeed, require an entire host for their development, but some, which are small in comparison with their victim, need only a part of its tissues so that a number can reach maturity on one host. It sometimes happens in nature that an individual host is attacked by more parasites than can develop upon it. This phenomenon, the occurrence of more parasitoids of a single species on a host than its tissues can support, is known as superparasitism
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