Spermatogeny as a life-history index in parasitoid wasps

Abstract

Reproduction is a major life-history trait but it has been studied mostly in relation to female reproductive effort. Recently, an ovigeny index using the proportion of oocytes ready to be oviposited at eclosion has been proposed for female insect parasitoids. Here, we propose a spermatogeny index for male parasitoid wasps. Prospermatogenic species have an index of 1, have all their spermatozoids mature at emergence and do not produce more later in life. At the other end of the spectrum, synspermatogenic species have no spermatozoids at emergence and produce them later in life. The level of spermatogeny should be linked to several other life-history parameters such as longevity, size, nutrition, distribution of mating opportunities and dispersion before and after mating. Data presented for some parasitoid species support the presence of variability in this male life-history parameter.