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2017:groups:g1:start

Group 1

Hairy versus naked caterpillars

Wiki site of the practical exercise of the VI Southern-Summer School on Mathematical Biology.

Here you will find the exercise assignment and the group's products.

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Introduction

Many caterpillar species have hairs that help them defend against predators (Sugiura and Yamazaki 2014) and parasitoids (Kageyama and Sugiura 2016). Both interactions strongly increase mortality, so why aren't all caterpillars hairy? Curiously, hairy caterpillars may be more attacked by parasitoids. One possible explanation for that is that hairy caterpillars may be preferred by parasitoids precisely because they are less susceptible to predation (Stireman and Singer 2003). Caterpillars more prone to predation would not sustain many parasitoid species, so they could, in fact, suffer less from parasitism than experiments indicate.

Assignment

Develop and analyze a mathematical model that describes this system and use it to understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of caterpillar hairiness.

Questions & Suggestions

  • Does the proposed explanation lead to coexistence between hairy and naked caterpillar species, assuming they compete strongly for resources?
  • Parasitoids are often specialists on their hosts. Does that contribute to coexistence?

References

  • Stireman, J.O., and M.S. Singer. 2003. Determinants of parasitoid-host associations: insights from a natural tachinid-lepidopteran community. Ecology 84(2): 296-310.
  • Sugiura, S., and K. Yamazaki. 2014. Caterpillar hair as a physical barrier against invertebrate predators. Behavioral Ecology 25(4): 975–983.
  • Kageyama, A., and Sugiura, S. 2016. Caterpillar hairs as an anti-parasitoid defence. The Science of Nature 103(86).

Results

2017/groups/g1/start.txt · Last modified: 2024/01/09 18:45 by 127.0.0.1