Influence of the number of hosts and the risk of predation on the foraging behavior of the parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus.

For some parasitoids like E. eremicus, theoretical predictions may be fulfilled when patch quality is linked to the number of hosts but will not be fully satisfied when patch quality is related to the risk of predation. Furthermore, at sites with different combinations of host numbers and risk of predation, host number appears to be more critical than predation risk. These results suggest that the performance of the parasitoid E. eremicus to control whiteflies will be mainly mediated by the levels of whitefly infestation and to a small extent by the risk of predation to which the parasitoid is subjected.