Egg allocation of the autoparasitoid Encarsia tricolor at different relative densities of the primary host (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) and two secondary hosts (Encarsia formosa and E. tricolor)

Parasitism, offspring sex ratio and superparasitism of the facultative autoparasitoid Encarsia tricolor Foërster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) when given access to arenae with different proportions of the primary host (Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood)) and two species of secondary hosts (E. tricolor and Encarsia formosa Gahan) were studied. Parasitism and offspring sex ratio were not affected by female age in the range 3–10 days old. When the secondary hosts were young E. tricolor pupae, eggs were mostly laid on primary hosts, so the offspring sex ratio was more female‐biased than expected, and secondary hosts were not superparasitized at all. When the secondary hosts were fully grown E. formosa larvae, superparasitism was small and offspring sex ratio was more male‐biased than expected. E. tricolor females were able to discriminate between hosts previously parasitized by themselves and non‐parasitized hosts.