Université de Montréal
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Jacques Brodeur
Frédéric Thomas
Start: 2010-09-01
End: 2013-12-16

Project

Ecology and evolution of the bodyguard manipulation: study of the Dinocampus coccinellae – Coleomegilla maculata system
Host behavioral manipulation, a widespread strategy among parasitic organisms, has evolved to favor the transmission and/or survival of parasites. Understanding such a strategy is at the heart of applied aspects of parasitology, such as epidemiology and medicine, but is also important for evolutionary and ecological reasons. The aim of this study was to improve our knowledge on a category of manipulation that remains poorly documented: the bodyguard manipulation, initially described on parasitoid insects. Following their larval development, certain parasitic wasps (Braconidae) are able to usurp the behavior of their host and force them to serve as bodyguards to protect parasitoid cocoon against natural enemies. Studying the association between the parasitic wasp Dinocampus coccinellae and one of its host the spotted lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata, this work is structured in five axes: i) Efficiency of the bodyguard protection and associated costs, ii) Energetic constraints for manipulative parasites, iii) Diversity and evolution of bodyguard manipulation, iv) Host survival from a parasitoid manipulation and v) Host nutrition effects on a host–manipulative parasitoid association. Our results provide original findings about the ecology and evolution of the bodyguard manipulation, for instance the energetic costs associated with host manipulation or the role of host nutrition in this type of association. New perspectives are identified in order to stimulate future research in this area.

Keywords

bodyguard manipulation, host–parasitoid relationship, manipulative costs, evolution, parasitoid virulence, Dinocampus coccinellae

Publications

1- Bodyguard manipulation in a multipredator context: Different processes, same effect
Maure, Fanny, Jacques Brodeur, Anaïs Droit, Josée Doyon, Frédéric Thomas
2013 Behavioural Processes

2- How much energy should manipulative parasites leave to their hosts to ensure altered behaviours?
Maure, F., J. Brodeur, D. Hughes, F. Thomas
2012 Journal of Experimental Biology

3- Diversity and evolution of bodyguard manipulation
Maure, F., S. P. Daoust, J. Brodeur, G. Mitta, F. Thomas
2012 Journal of Experimental Biology

4- Intraspecific variability in host manipulation by parasites
Thomas, Frédéric, Jacques Brodeur, Fanny Maure, Nathalie Franceschi, Simon Blanchet, Thierry Rigaud
2011 Infection, Genetics and Evolution

5- The cost of a bodyguard
Maure, F., J. Brodeur, N. Ponlet, J. Doyon, A. Firlej, E. Elguero, F. Thomas
2011 Biology Letters

6- Experimental evidence of size/age-biased infection of Biomphalaria glabrata (Pulmonata: Planorbidae) by an incompatible parasite species: Consequences for biological control
Daoust, Simon P., Brian J. Mader, Fanny Maure, J. Daniel McLaughlin, Frédéric Thomas, Manfred E. Rau
2010 Infection, Genetics and Evolution