Patterns of parasitoid host utilization and development across a range of temperatures: implications for biological control of an invasive forest pest

Although climate change frequently has been linked to observed shifts in the distributions or phenologies of species, little is known about the potential effects of varying temperatures on parasitoids and their relationships with hosts. Using the egg parasitoid Oobius agrili (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) we examined host utilization patterns of this species across a range of temperatures (20–35 °C) to explore how changing climate could affect the interaction with its host—the emerald ash borer (EAB) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a serious invasive forest pest that has killed tens of millions of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in North America. Results from our study showed that the window of host susceptibility to O. agrili parasitism declined significantly from 14.8 to 2.6 days in an inverse second-order relationship with increasing exposure temperatures from 20 to 35 °C. In contrast, parasitoid host attack rate changed in a bell-shaped second-order relationship—i.e., increased with temperatures from 20 to 25 °C, but decreased at about the same rate when temperatures increased from 30 to 35 °C. This range of temperatures also significantly affected the development and mortality of immature parasitoids with 35 °C resulting in 100 % mortality. There was little mortality (0–4.5 %) and no significant differences in the percentage (20.9–34.9 %) of immature O. agrili that entered diapause (as mature larvae) at 20, 25, and 30 °C. However, there were significant differences in the time event of adult wasp emergence within this temperature range. The median time for 50 % of immature O. agrili emerging as adults at 20, 25, and 30 °C were 38, 18, and 17 days after parental wasp oviposition, respectively. Together these findings indicate that the non-linear and unequal temperature effects on these host utilization parameters are likely to result in differential host parasitism rates, and thus could reduce the efficacy of this parasitoid in suppressing host populations due to climate change (global warming and extreme heat).