Université de Fribourg

Temporal and spatial variations in the parasitoid complex of the horse chestnut leafminer during its invasion of Europe

Grabenweger, Giselher ; Kehrli, Patrik ; Zweimüller, Irene ; Augustin, Sylvie ; Avtzis, Nikolaos ; Bacher, Sven ; Freise, Jona ; Girardoz, Sandrine ; Guichard, Sylvain ; Heitland, Werner ; Lethmayer, Christa ; Stolz, Michaela ; Tomov, Rumen ; Volter, Lubomir ; Kenis, Marc

In: Biological Invasions, 2010, vol. 12, no. 8, p. 2797-2813

The enemy release hypothesis posits that the initial success of invasive species depends on the scarcity and poor adaptation of native natural enemies such as predators and parasitoids. As for parasitoids, invading hosts are first attacked at low rates by a species-poor complex of mainly generalist species. Over the years, however, parasitoid richness may increase either because the invading host...