What types of parasitic wasp signals can inhibit the immune system of their hosts?
There are various types of compounds and symbiotic viruses or virus-like particles that suppress the immune system of the host. There has been a lot of research on the polyDNA viruses of ichneumonid and braconid parasitic wasps. Much less is known about the virus-like particles used by the relative of gall wasps (eucoiline figitids) to manipulate their hosts (Drosophila larvae). However, experiments have shown that the figitids are capable of striking out the immune system components of the Drosophila larva responsible for encapsulating large foreign objects (such as parasitc wasp larvae) without affecting the host larva’s ability to defend itself (and the parasitic larva inside it) against bacterial infection. Q: What brought you to Florida State University? A: The weather. And all of the exciting research going on in the US in systematics and computational phylogenetics. And the good colleagues I had here before I moved. Q: How difficult would it be to complete the Swedish Taxonomy I
