Data from: Heating up parasitoid-host interactions: high temperature increased mortality of late-instar braconid larvae and reduced ladybird recovery rate

With ongoing climate change, temperature-dependent outcomes of
host-parasitoid interactions can affect ecosystem functioning and key
ecosystem services such as biological control. However, most studies
addressing the impacts of temperature on host-parasitoid systems are
biased toward immature host stages and agricultural pests, specifically
Lepidoptera. Moreover, despite their relevance for population dynamics,
important life-history traits such as host recovery (i.e., restoring
feeding and mating behaviour after parasitism) remain largely neglected.
In this study we tested the effects of low (18°C), optimal (24°C), and
high (30°C) temperatures on the development, survival, and body size of
the braconid parasitoid Dinocampus coccinellae and longevity and recovery
probability of its adult host, the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis. At
low temperature, susceptible ladybirds, in which parasitoid larvae
successfully developed, lived significantly shorter than resistant
ladybirds that likely eliminated parasitoid, and control individuals lived
significantly longer than both types of infected ladybirds. At optimal
temperature, host survival was mainly determined by parasitoid
development, as resistant and control ladybirds lived similarly long and
susceptible individuals lived significantly shorter. At high temperatures
all ladybirds exposed to the parasitoid lived significantly shorter than
control ones. Temperature significantly affected stage-specific mortality
of parasitoids, with significantly higher proportion of late larval instar
dying at high temperature. This together with increased pupal mortality
resulted in inability of Dinocampus coccinellae to complete development at
30°C. Ladybird recovery was significantly affected by temperature, host
sex and their interaction, showing highest values at optimal temperature
for both sexes, but strongly decreased male recovery at low temperature.
In addition, host sex influenced parasitoid body size: female ladybirds
produced larger adult wasps. The combined effects of high temperatures and
parasitism negatively affected host life-history traits, with extreme
temperatures also mediating cascading effects on its braconid
endoparasitoid. We demonstrate how temperature- and stage-specific
parasitoid mortality can influence host longevity and the understudied
recovery probability, focusing on an adult beetle host, providing novel
information for climate change ecology of host-parasitoid interactions.