拟寄生物

这组科学家研究了气候如何影响拟寄生物。拟寄生物是诸如胡蜂和寄生蝇一类的昆虫，它们把卵产在毛虫体内，让孵化出的幼虫以宿主为食。

The team looked at how climate affects parasitoids & insects such as wasps and flies that lay their eggs on or inside caterpillars , allowing the hatched larvae to feed on the host .

然而，英国伦敦帝国理工学院的FrankvanVee指出，拟寄生物不是唯一能够控制毛虫数量的因素。

Frank van Veen of Imperial College , United Kingdom , points out , however , that parasitoids are not the only things that can control caterpillar numbers .

论文的另一位作者、美国新奥尔良Tulane大学的LeeDyer说，许多同样的拟寄生物也广泛分布于农田中。

Many of the same parasitoids are also widespread in agricultural areas , says co-author Lee Dyer of Tulane University in New Orleans , Louisiana , United States .

拟寄生物与寄主关系适合性的免疫学基础

Relation . Immunological Basis for Compatibility in Parasitoid-Host Relationships

如果是这样，未曾预料的降雨可能会破坏拟寄生物“追踪”它们毛虫宿主的能力。

If so , unpredictable rains might disrupt the parasitoids'ability to'track'their caterpillar hosts .

多物种寄主&拟寄生物系统相互作用的趋化模型分析

Analysis of Chemotaxis Model for Multi-species Host-parasitoid Interactions

他们发现，在降雨量变化最大的年份里，入侵毛虫的拟寄生物显著减少。

They found that the caterpillars had significantly fewer parasitoids in years when rainfall was most variable .

这可能是因为拟寄生物使用诸如当地气候的变动这样的信号，来确定产卵的最佳时间。

This could be because the parasitoids use cues such as changes in local climate to determine the best time for laying their eggs .