![Sample our Environment & Agriculture journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5934/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Agriculture.jpg"})
Abstract
The blissine bug Macropes obnubilus, which lives aggregately under leaf sheaths of the evergreen dwarf bamboo, is infected by the strepsipteran parasite Blissoxenos esakii. To determine the ecological properties of the bug–strepsipteran system, we conducted field surveys of natural populations of Macropes bugs and Blissoxenos parasites. The parasitism rate of strepsipterans was high throughout the year and was significantly higher in female than in male bugs. Blissoxenos adult males emerged mainly in May, and neotenic adult females released triungulins in August. The triungulins invaded host nymphs, but subsequent larval development did not occur before the bugs matured. At most, two strepsipterans could mature in a host because of spatial limitations. The mortality of triply or more parasitized bugs was significantly higher than that of singly or doubly parasitized bugs, which survived longer than uninfected ones. The heavy strepsipteran infection profoundly affected the host population by causing host reproductive failure.