Artificial selection for non‐reproductive host killing in a native parasitoid on the invasive pest, Drosophila suzukii

Establishment and spread of invasive species can be facilitated by lack of natural enemies in the invaded area. Host-range evolution of natural enemies augments their ability to reduce the impact of the invader and could enhance their value for biological control. We assessed the potential of the Drosophila parasitoid, Leptopilina heterotoma (Hymenoptera: Figitidae), to exploit the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii by focussing on three performance indices: (1) attack rate (2) host killing, consisting of killing rate and lethal attack rate (killing efficiency) and (3) successful offspring development (reproductive success). We found significant intra-specific variation in attack rate and killing rate and lethal attack rate among seven European populations, but offspring generally failed to successfully develop from the D. suzukii host. We crossed these European lines to create a genetically variable source population and performed a half-sib analysis to quantify genetic variation. Using ...