Host species differences in the thermal mismatch of host-parasitoid interactions

Extreme high temperatures associated with climate change can affect species directly, and indirectly through temperature-mediated species interactions. In most host-parasitoid systems, parasitization inevitably kills the host, but differences in heat tolerance between host and parasitoid, and between different hosts, may alter their interactions. Here, we explored the effects of extreme high temperatures on the ecological outcomes - including, in some rare cases, escape from the developmental disruption of parasitism - of the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia congregata, and two co-occurring congeneric larval hosts, Manduca sexta and M. quinquemaculata. Both host species had higher thermal tolerance than C. congregata, resulting in a thermal mismatch characterized by parasitoid (but not host) mortality under extreme high temperatures. Despite parasitoid death at high temperatures, hosts typically remain developmentally disrupted from parasitism. However, high temperatures resulted in a partial developmental recovery from parasitism (reaching the wandering stage at the end of host larval development) in some host individuals, with a significantly higher frequency of this partial developmental recovery in M. quinquemaculata than in M. sexta. Hosts species also differed in their growth and development in the absence of parasitoids, with M. quinquemaculata developing faster and larger at high temperatures relative to M. sexta. Our results demonstrate that co-occurring congeneric species, despite shared environments and phylogenetic histories, can vary in their responses to temperature, parasitism and their interaction, resulting in altered ecological outcomes.

Automated summary

Extreme high temperatures associated with climate change can affect species directly and indirectly through temperature-mediated species interactions. This study explores the effects of high temperatures on the ecological outcomes of the parasitoid wasp and two co-occurring larval hosts. The results show that the thermal tolerance of the host species is higher than that of the parasitoid, resulting in parasitoid mortality under extreme high temperatures. However, some host individuals can partially recover from parasitism at high temperatures, with the recovery frequency higher in one host species compared to the other. The growth and development of the hosts also differ in the absence of parasitoids.