Hierarchical order of host cues in parasite foraging strategies

Abstract

The importance of host cues to three species of steinernematid nematodes (Rhabdita: Steinernematidae) with different foraging strategies was compared. We presented host materials to nematodes in series to test responses to combinations of host cues. If a fixed hierarchy of cues is followed during foraging, parasites should respond most strongly to cues offered in natural order. Steinernema carpocapsae, an ambush forager, aggregated at the source of volatile host cues only after attachment to host cuticle. They also parasitized hosts more efficiently after contact with cuticle. Steinernema glaseri, a cruise forager, was unaffected by exposure to combinations of host cues. Steinernema feltiae, a nematode with characteristics of both ambushing and cruising, was affected by cue hierarchies when either contact or volatile cues were presented first. Host-associated materials encountered out of the context may not qualify as host cues for the ambush forager, S. carpocapsae. Perhaps the order in which cues are encountered is more predictable for ambushers than for cruisers. Therefore an ambusher's response to host materials has a more fixed contextual framework.