A cuckoo in wolves' clothing? Chemical mimicry in a specialized cuckoo wasp of the European beewolf (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae and Crabronidae).

Background: Host-parasite interactions are among the most important biotic relationships. Host species should evolve mechanisms to detect their enemies and employ appropriate counterstrategies. Parasites, in turn, should evolve mechanisms to evade detection and thus maximize their success.

Escape from parasitism: spatial and temporal strategies of a sphecid wasp against a specialised cuckoo wasp.

Parasites and parasitoids exert an important selection pressure on organisms and, thus, play an important role for both population dynamics and evolutionary responses of host species. We investigated host-parasite interactions in a brood-caring wasp, the European beewolf, Philanthus triangulum (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae), and asked whether females of this species might employ temporal or spatial strategies to reduce the rate of attack by a specialised brood parasitoid, the cuckoo wasp Hedychrum rutilans (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae). Females of the host species might shift their activity to periods of low parasitoid activity both in the course of the season and in the course of the day.