Beginning with Emlen (1966) and MacArthur and Pianka (1966) and extending through the last ten years, several authors have sought to predict the foraging behavior of animals by means of mathematical models. These models are very similar,in that they all assume that the fitness of a foraging animal is a function of the efficiency of foraging measured in terms of some "currency" (Schoener, 1971) -usually energy- and that natural selection has resulted in animals that forage so as to maximize this fitness. As a result of these similarities, the models have become known as "optimal foraging models"; and the theory that embodies them, "optimal foraging theory." The situations to which optimal foraging theory has been applied, with the exception of a few recent studies, can be divided into the following four categories: (1) choice by an animal of which food types to eat (i.e., optimal diet); (2) choice of which patch type to feed in (i.e., optimal patch choice); (3) optimal allocation of time to different patches; and (4) optimal patterns and speed of movements. In this review we discuss each of these categories separately, dealing with both the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions. The review is selective in the sense that we emphasize studies that either develop testable predictions or that attempt to test predictions in a precise quantitative manner. We also discuss what we see to be some of the future developments in the area of optimal foraging theory and how this theory can be related to other areas of biology. Our general conclusion is that the simple models so far formulated are supported are supported reasonably well by available data and that we are optimistic about the value both now and in the future of optimal foraging theory. We argue, however, that these simple models will requre much modification, espicially to deal with situations that either cannot easily be put into one or another of the above four categories or entail currencies more complicated that just energy.

Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests

Christensen, R. (2002), Plane Answers to Complex Questions: The Theory of Linear Models (3rd ed.), New York: Springer-Verlag. Crocker, D. C. (1980), Review of Linear Regression Analysis, by G. A. F. Seber, Technometrics, 22, 130. Datta, B. N. (1995), Numerical Linear Algebra and Applications, Paci c Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Draper, N. R. (2002), “Applied Regression Analysis Bibliography Update 2000–2001,” Communications in Statistics: Theory and Methods, 2051– 2075. Golub, G. H., and Van Loan, C. F. (1996), Matrix Computations (3rd ed.), Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Graybill, F. A. (2000), Theory and Application of the Linear Model, Paci c Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Hocking, R. R. (2003), Methods and Applications of Linear Models: Regression and the Analysis of Variance (2nd ed.), New York: Wiley. Porat, B. (1993), Digital Processing of Random Signals, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ravishanker, N., and Dey, D. K. (2002), A First Course in Linear Model Theory, Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC. White, H. (1984), Asymptotic Theory for Econometricians, Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Generalized Estimating Equations

Early Morphological Specialization for Insect-Spider Associations in Mesozoic Lacewings.

Parasites and parasitoids control behaviors of their hosts. However, the origin of the behavior evoked by the parasitic organism has been rarely identified. It is also not known whether the manipulation is universal or host-specific. Polysphinctine wasps, koinobiont ectoparasitoids of several spider species that manipulate host web-spinning activity for their own protection during pupation, provide an ideal system to reveal the origin of the evoked behavior. Larva of Zatypota percontatoria performed species-specific manipulation of theridiid spiders, Neottiura bimaculata and Theridion varians, shortly before pupation. Parasitized N. bimaculata produced a dense web, whereas parasitized T. varians built a cupola-like structure. The larva pupated inside of either the dense web or the cupola-like structure. We discovered that unparasitized N. bimaculata produce an analogous dense web around their eggsacs and for themselves during winter, while T. varians construct an analogous ‘cupola’ only for overwintering. We induced analogous manipulation in unparasitized hosts by altering ambient conditions. We discovered that the behavior evoked by larvae in two hosts was functionally similar. The larva evoked protective behaviors that occur in unparasitized hosts only during specific life-history periods.

/pdf/a-parasitoid-wasp-induces-overwintering-behaviour-in-its-3cc8kuvae2.pdf

A parasitoid wasp induces overwintering behaviour in its spider host.

Araneid spiders of genus Araniella are attacked by three polysphinctine parsitoid wasps Polysphincta boopsTschek, P. tuberose (Gravenhorst), and Sinarachna pallipes (Holmgren). In the present study, the trophic niche of sympatrically occurring parasitoids and the host manipulation they induced were studied. The aim was to identify whether the variation in host response to manipulation is as a result of differences among parasitoids or among host species.
It was found that final instar larva forced the spider host to build a three-dimensional (3D) ‘cocoon web’ to protect the parasitoid during pupation. The behaviour of parasitoid larva and the induced modification of the web architecture differed between wasps of genus Polysphincta and Sinarachna but not among three spider species. The larvae of genus Polysphincta forced the spider host to build the ‘cocoon web’ with a high thread density within which the pupa was positioned horizontally. The larvae of Sinarachna forced the spider host to build web with sparse threads and the pupa was positioned vertically in the middle of the ‘cocoon web’.
There seems to be an investment trade-off in parasitoid wasps: some species manipulate the host to build a dense protective web, while pupating in a sparse cocoon, whereas others make the spider produce a sparse web but build a dense pupa wall.

Parasitoid genus-specific manipulation of orb-web host spiders (Araneae, Araneidae)

Current knowledge about polysphinctine parasite wasps' interactions with their spider hosts is very fragmented and incomplete. This study presents the host specificity of Zatypota percontatoria (Muller) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and its adaptation to varying host availability. Two years of field observations show that Z. percontatoria is a stenophagous parasitoid that parasitizes only five closely related web-building spiders of the family Theridiidae (Araneae). Within the Theridiidae it attacks only species belonging to a small group of species, here called the “Theridion” group. These hosts have a similar biology, but are available at different levels of abundance and at different sizes over the season. Laboratory experiments showed that this wasp species ignores linyphiid, araneid or dictynid spiders and accepts only theridiid spiders of the “Theridion” group. In the field study, wasp females preferred older juvenile and sub-adult female spider instars with intermediate body size. Only 5% of the parasitized spiders were males. Parasitism in the natural population of theridiid spiders was on average 1.3%. Parasitism was most frequent on two species, Theridion varians Hahn in 2007 and Neottiura bimaculata Linnaeus in 2008. The parasitization rate was positively correlated with spider abundance. The wasp responded adaptively to seasonal changes in host abundance and host body size and shifted host preference according to the availability of suitable hosts during, as well as between, seasons. In spring and summer the highest percentage of parasitism was on T. varians and in autumn it was on N. bimaculata.

https://bioone.org/journals/Journal-of-Insect-Science/volume-11/issue-101/031.011.10101/Host-Specificity-and-Temporal-and-Seasonal-Shifts-in-Host-Preference/10.1673/031.011.10101.pdf

Host specificity and temporal and seasonal shifts in host preference of a web-spider parasitoid Zatypota percontatoria.

We found that the koinobiont ectoparasitoid wasp Zatypota picticollis is exclusively associated with three orb weaving spiders Cyclosa conica, Mangora acalypha and Zilla diodia from the family Araneidae. Under the influence of the parasitoid's final instar larva the spiders built a specific web architecture, which differed considerably from the capturing orb web. Manipulated webs of C. conica and M. acalypha lacked the spiral, stabilimentum and central hub, and the radials were reduced in number. The manipulated web of Z. diodia consisted of one strong horizontally oriented thread.

Manipulation of araneid spider web architecture by the polysphinctine parasitoid Zatypota picticollis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae)

Mohammadi-Khoramabadi A., Talebi A., Broad G. R., Zwakhals K. - A study of the genus Zabrachypus Cushman, 1920 (Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae Pimplinae) from Iran with descriptions of two new species. Four species of the genus Zabrachypus were collected and identified from northern Iran, of which one species is recorded for the first time, Z. cazorlensis Rey del Castillo, 1996, and two species are described as new: Z. rubroabdominalis n. sp. and Z. rugatus n. sp.. A key to the species is provided. Their ecology and phenology are discussed. KEY WORDS: taxonomy, Zabrachypus, Z. rubroabdominalis n. sp., Z. rugatus n. sp., Iran.

A study of the genus zabrachypus cushman, 1920 (hymenoptera ichneumonidae pimplinae) from iran with descriptions of two new species

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Host specificity and temporal and seasonal shifts in host preference of a web-spider parasitoid Zatypota percontatoria.

Manipulation of araneid spider web architecture by the polysphinctine parasitoid Zatypota picticollis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae)

A study of the genus zabrachypus cushman, 1920 (hymenoptera ichneumonidae pimplinae) from iran with descriptions of two new species