A Unified View of Models Describing the Avoidance of Superparasitism

Abstract

Various models that have been proposed to describe the avoidance of super-parasitism in single ovipositing parasite-host systems are surveyed and presented within a framework that clarifies the assumptions. Computations on the information statistics are summarized, and a new procedure, which is a variant of a sequential occupancy model, is illustrated on data for wasps laying eggs in some housefly pupae; there are also comparative analyses with some older methods. All models can be formulated within the context of the time-dependent behaviour of a Markov process. Within this context inferences concerning the parameter(s) measuring any avoidance of superparasitism can readily be made conditional on the observed number of ovipositions, thus avoiding estimation of the expected number of ovipositions as a nuisance parameter.

superparasitism, models, oviposition, avoidance-modified distribution, sequential occupancy, Markov process