Longevity costs of same-sex interactions: first evidence from a parasitic wasp

Costs of sexual interactions play a key role in life-history evolution. Although the costs of reproduction have been investigated in both sexes of many insects, the costs of same-sex interactions have been examined in few species. In parasitic wasps, very little has been reported about the longevity costs of heterosexual interactions, and nothing is known about longevity costs of same-sex interactions. In this study, the effects of heterosexual and homosexual activities on longevity were evaluated in Psyttalia concolor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a synovigenic koinobiont larval-pupal endoparasitoid of tephritid flies. When compared with individually housed virgin wasps, male longevity was strongly reduced both in males kept with females, and in males kept with other males. When females were kept with males, their longevity was reduced compared with the virgin females and females kept with other females. Overall, the costs of male-female interactions were considerable in both sexes of P. concolor, while same-sex activities were found to be costly only among males, suggesting that they may have implications for the evolution of the P. concolor mating system.