Learning‐induced switching costs in a parasitoid can maintain diversity of host aphid phenotypes although biocontrol is destabilised under abiotic stress

A recent paper shows that a ‘switching penalty’ incurred by parasitoids searching for host aphids could explain stable coexistence of parasitism-resistant and -susceptible aphid phenotypes in the population. The study highlights the importance of understanding diversity within aphid populations and how this influences the efficacy of aphid biocontrol by parasitoid wasps.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13189